All Nippon Airways Kagoshima Airport overrun

The All Nippon Airways Kagoshima Airport overrun (Zen Nikkū-ki Kagoshima Kūkō ōbāran jiko) was an aviation accident that occurred in 1966 (Shōwa 41). Thanks to a series of lucky circumstances, the damage was only minor.

Outline of the accident

On 18 September 1966, an All Nippon Airways Fokker F27 Friendship twin-turboprop airliner took off from Itazuke Airfield (Fukuoka Airport) at 7:55 am and was flying to Kagoshima. The aircraft had been standing by to avoid Typhoon No. 21, which had struck southern Kyushu the previous day, and was being ferried in order to operate the scheduled flight departing at 9:10 am from Kagoshima to Osaka via Miyazaki.

The aircraft attempted to land at 8:45 am at the former Kagoshima Airport (Kōrimoto-chō, Kagoshima City; closed in 1972 when the new airport opened), but at the time heavy rain was falling, and visibility was about 9.6 km. The ferry flight touched down at the middle 600 m of the 1200 m runway and tried to stop, but could not stop in time, overran and left the runway, plunging into the sea 50 m beyond the north side of the runway. At the time of the accident it was low tide and the water was about 2 m deep, so the aircraft was more or less afloat, but at high tide half of the aircraft was submerged and the aircraft was damaged. Since it was a ferry flight, no passengers or cabin crew were on board, and of the captain (then aged 41) and the first officer (then aged 26), 1 was slightly injured.

Because of this accident, Kagoshima Airport was closed until 11 am and 9 flights in both directions were cancelled. The aircraft was recovered in the evening with a large crane and taken to a hangar, but only the nose was damaged, and it is said that after repairs it was able to return to service.

Cause of the accident

The minimum landing roll of the Friendship was 570 m, and with no passengers, as in the case of this aircraft, it should have stopped in about 400 m. It can therefore be said that it overran because the runway was wet with rain so the brakes were ineffective, and moreover little runway remained.