TOKYO: Japan Airlines workers are passing down the events of the 1985 crash of a JAL jumbo jet, aiming to ensure that the tragedy is never repeated. 

The proportion of JAL employees who were working for the airline when the accident happened is now less than 4 percent of the total, while those who were born after the crash make up over one-third.

JAL’s Safety Promotion Center, where the wreckage of the aircraft and belongings of the victims are displayed, has been used as a place to teach employees the importance of safety.

On August 12, 1985, JAL Flight 123, from Tokyo’s Haneda airport to Osaka, western Japan, crashed into a mountain in Gunma Prefecture, eastern Japan, killing 520 passengers and crew members.

Yumiko Ito, 61, now employed as a guide at the safety center, was working at a check-in counter at Haneda at that time.

She suggested that people who had missed their flights and those who arrived at the airport early take Flight 123 as it had some vacant seats. She still remembers their excitement to go home early, Ito said.

Ito was also working at Haneda three years before the accident, when a JAL flight crashed near the airport, leaving 24 people dead.

The 1985 accident took place at a time when she was feeling great gratitude for those who continued using JAL flights while many others stopped using them after the 1982 crash.

She has been sharing her experience with younger workers and telling them “how important it is to have people who use JAL services with trust.”

Rei Shinohara, 27, who also works as a guide at the safety center, is one of the young JAL workers who have heard Ito’s stories.

Shinohara, who is in his second year at JAL, has visited the crash site over 30 times, including as a supervisor when new employees visit the site as part of a training program.

He said that the visits have given him valuable experience for conveying the message that safety should be a priority.

Shinohara said, “I wonder whether my stories touch the listener’s hearts.” But he said he is determined to keep talking about the crash in her own words. “It’s possible to make my words carry weight even though I’m still young,” he said.

JIJI Press