Japan Air System Flight 451
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-41 · Windshear on landing complicated by pilot error
From Nagoya Airport / JASDF Komaki Air Base (NKM) to New Chitose Airport (CTS)
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 77
- Survivors
- 77
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- 19
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Airline
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-41
- Flight
- JL451
- Aircraft type
- McDonnell Douglas DC-9
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- JA8448
- Operator
- Japan Air System
- Onboard fatalities
- 0
- Route
- From Nagoya Airport / JASDF Komaki Air Base (NKM)To New Chitose Airport (CTS)
Cause areas
- Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena
- Personnel issues › Experience/knowledge
- Personnel issues › Task performance
- Personnel issues › Action/decision
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
Japan Air System Flight 451 was a Japan Air System flight from Nagoya Airport in the Nagoya area of Aichi Prefecture, Japan to New Chitose Airport in Sapporo, Hokkaido Prefecture, with a stopover at Hanamaki Airport in Hanamaki, Iwate Prefecture. On 18 April 1993, the Douglas DC-9-41 operating the flight crashed while landing at Hanamaki Airport. The aircraft was written off but all 72 passengers and 5 crew survived.
Accident
On 18 April 1993, JA8448 departed from New Chitose Airport and flew to Hanamaki Airport, then Nagoya Airport, as part of Flight JAS 451. The flight plan indicated that it was supposed to fly back to New Chitose from Hanamaki.
The aircraft suddenly lost a significant amount of airspeed as it crossed the boundary line of a passing cold front, and encountered resultant windshear while on final approach. The somewhat inexperienced first officer was not able to conduct a missed approach fast enough to avoid a hard landing. The plane impacted the runway with such force that the gear was estimated to suffer up to +6G. causing it to puncture the fuel tank and cause a fire.
All 72 passengers and five crew members survived, with 19 people sustaining injuries. The aircraft caught fire as the passengers evacuated; it was destroyed and written off.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
The investigation launched almost immediately after the accident by the JTSB. It lasted approximately 10 months, ruling that pilot error and windshear was the cause of the accident. It was found that when the aircraft reached 300 ft, the wind suddenly changed and began to sink fast, causing the aircraft's warning system to announce a "Sink rate!" warning, which means that the aircraft is descending at least 100 ft below the recommended descent rate. The resulting impact with the runway caused the landing gear root to go up into the wing, puncturing the fuel tank, and igniting, leading to the fire. The aircraft subsequently skidded off the runway and eventually stopped while burning. The survival of everyone on board was credited to the fact that the evacuation was conducted quickly and without stop. The pilots were faulted by the fact that they failed to initiate a go-around until it was too late. The probable cause of the accident was written as follows:It was determined that the aircraft encountered windshear on short final with wind from 240° to 320° gusting 26 to 47 knots. The co-pilot, who was at controls at this time was not sufficiently experienced according to the operator operational procedures. Poor supervision on part of the captain and a too late recovery were considered as contributing factors.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Japan Air System Flight 451” (revision 1339313492, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: Japan Air System Flight 451
- Article
- Japan Air System Flight 451
- Revision
- 1339313492 · 2026-02-19 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q6156479
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "Japan Air System Flight 451" (page 20834300, revision 1339313492)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site; country from Wikidata (P17)
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- airline flight number in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.