All Nippon Airways Komaki Airport collision

The All Nippon Airways Komaki Airport collision (Zen Nikkū Komaki Kūkō shōtotsu jiko) was an aviation accident that occurred on the runway of Nagoya Airport (Komaki Airport, now Nagoya Airfield) on 16 March 1960 (Shōwa 35) (Wednesday).

Overview of the accident

On 16 March 1960, All Nippon Airways Flight 25 (Douglas DC-3, registration JA5018, built in 1942), which had departed Tokyo International Airport for Nagoya Airport, had a total of 33 people on board: 3 crew and 30 passengers.

After landing at Nagoya Airport from the south at 19:38, Flight 25 was taxiing along the runway towards the central taxiway. It should have turned left off the runway towards the terminal building, but the controller mistakenly believed Flight 25 was in the middle of the runway and instructed it to make a U-turn. The captain therefore followed the controller's instruction and was taxiing along the runway towards the south. At that moment the controller gave takeoff clearance to the pilot of an F-86D fighter (serial number 94-8137) of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force's 3rd Air Wing (now based at Misawa Air Base), which was just about to take off, even though he had not confirmed that Flight 25 had finished clearing the runway. The pilot of the Self-Defense Force aircraft, not imagining that an airliner was facing him, began his takeoff roll. The two aircraft therefore approached each other.

The pilots of Flight 25 noticed the fighter heading towards them and tried to evade to the left, but too late; at around 19:39 the Self-Defense Force aircraft struck the airliner's right wing and then collided with its rear fuselage and tail. As a result, Flight 25's fuselage was severed and wrecked.

In this accident, 3 people on board All Nippon Airways Flight 25 were killed: 1 flight attendant (aged 23 at the time) and 2 passengers (a married couple aged 30 and 27), and 8 passengers were injured. The Self-Defense Force aircraft slid 150 m from the point of collision, veered off the west side of the runway and caught fire. The injured pilot was rescued by engineers who were at the maintenance area within the airport.

Cause of the accident

The cause of the accident was determined to be that the controller on duty at the time (aged 29) had issued takeoff clearance to the Self-Defense Force aircraft too early, while Flight 25 was still taxiing, and the controller was prosecuted. On 10 October 1962 the Nagoya District Court found the controller guilty of violating the Civil Aeronautics Act and of professional negligence resulting in death and injury, sentencing him to 1 year's imprisonment (suspended for 3 years).

Thus the controller was convicted of negligence in the criminal trial, but earlier, on 13 December 1960, the labour union of the Civil Aviation Bureau of the Ministry of Transport had filed a complaint with the Nagoya District Public Prosecutors Office, arguing that the Self-Defense Force pilot, who had received no disciplinary action, should also have been able to see the navigation lights on both wings of the airliner taxiing on the runway and was negligent in failing to keep a lookout ahead. However, prosecution was suspended and he was not held responsible. The pilots of Flight 25 were also considered to bear no responsibility for the accident, as they had faithfully followed the controller's instructions.

It has also been pointed out that the fact that the airport was a joint civil-military airfield used by both Self-Defense Force and civil aircraft was a contributing cause of the accident.