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Journalism of Courage
TOKYO, JAN 31: At least 34 people on board a Japan Airlines Boeing 747 jumbo jet were injured on Wednesday when the pilot swerved to avoid a mid-air collision with an aircraft on a flight from South Korea, a transport ministry official said.
The eight men and 26 women, including at least seven crew members and one baby girl, were hurt when the pilot yanked the controls of the airliner to avoid hitting the other aircraft.
"The plane descended steeply after swaying from side to side. I thought we would crash," a middle-aged woman told NHK public television.
Some media reports said three women were badly hurt and could not walk without assistance. Several passengers shown leaving the aircraft appeared to have slight head injuries.
Fire department officials said at least 18 women, including a 35-year-old flight attendant who was severely injured, were taken to hospitals.
Japan Airlines flight 907, with 411 passengers and 16 crew on board, was en route to Naha on Japan’s southernmost island of Okinawa when the near-miss occurred. The pilot returned to Tokyo’s Haneda domestic airport to allow the injured to be treated.
Aviation authorities identified the other aircraft as Japan Airlines flight 958 bound for Tokyo’s Narita international airport from Pusan in South Korea.
But a transport ministry official quoted the pilot of the other plane as saying he was not aware of the near-miss.
Japan Airlines vice president Yasushi Yuasa apologised to those who sustained injuries.
"It is truly regrettable that many people were injured," he told a news conference on Wednesday evening.
One passenger on flight 907 described how people were lifted out of their seats by the force of the plane’s descent, hitting the ceiling of the cabin.
Another passenger, a middle-aged man, told Fuji Television Network he saw another plane ascending fast while his plane descended suddenly.
It was not immediately clear how close the two planes came to each other.
Police said they were questioning the pilots of the two aircraft to find out why and how the near-disaster happened.
The incident took place about 180 km (112 miles) southwest of Tokyo.
In Japan’s worst plane disaster, a Japan Airlines Boeing 747 jumbo jet crashed into mountains to the northeast of Tokyo, killing all but four of the 524 people aboard on August 12, 1985.
