Toa Domestic Airlines Flight 381 belly landing accident

The Toa Domestic Airlines Flight 381 belly landing accident (Tōa Kokunai Kōkū 381-bin dōtai chakuriku jiko) is an aviation accident (one-gear landing accident) involving Toa Domestic Airlines (TDA) Flight 381 that occurred at Haneda Airport on 21 July 1979 (Showa 54).

Overview of the accident

At around 8:38 on 21 July 1979, Toa Domestic Airlines Flight 381 took off from Haneda Airport bound for Nanki-Shirahama Airport. When the gear was retracted (gear up) after take-off, the gear lights, which should normally go out immediately, reportedly went out slightly late for the left rear wheel only. The captain, sensing something was wrong, lowered the gear by lever operation just in case, but the left rear wheel stayed retracted and did not come down.

The captain declared an emergency to the Haneda control tower, but since the wheels could not be seen from the cockpit, the situation could not be confirmed, and there was also the possibility that it was simply an instrument malfunction. The captain therefore, with the permission of the control tower, enlisted the cooperation of a DC-9 that happened to be flying near Flight 381 towards Haneda, and carried out formation flying, which is unusual for airliners. Visual observation by the DC-9's pilot made clear that not even the gear bay door had opened, and the captain immediately decided to make an emergency landing at Haneda. At around 11:32 the aircraft entered its landing approach on one gear.

The landing itself was smooth, but as the speed decreased the aircraft tilted heavily to the left rear, where there was no gear, scraping the fuselage hard along the runway, and it ended up leaving the runway and overrunning. However, the landing was completed safely, and a fire from the impact was also avoided.

Because the entertainer Kaoru Yumi was on board the flight, the media rushed to Haneda Airport in large numbers, causing a great commotion, but fortunately all the passengers and crew, including Yumi, were rescued safely.

Cause of the accident

The cause of the accident lay in the upper mechanism of the bay door; partly because this door had been assembled incorrectly during maintenance, a part called the "uplock hook", which lifts and locks the wheel, had suffered metal fatigue and broken and cracked.

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