All Nippon Airways Flight 61

1999 aircraft hijacking Not to be confused with All Nippon Airways Flight 60.

All Nippon Airways Flight 61
Hijacking
JA8966, the aircraft in the hijacking attempt
Date	July 23, 1999
Site	35°33′25″N 139°46′53″E / 35.5570°N 139.7813°E / 35.5570; 139.7813
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 747-481D
Operator	All Nippon Airways
Registration	JA8966
Flight origin	Haneda Airport, Ōta, Tokyo, Japan
Destination	New Chitose Airport, Chitose, Hokkaido, Japan
Occupants	517
Passengers	503 (including the hijacker)
Crew	14
Fatalities	1 (Captain)
Injuries	0
Survivors	516

On July 23, 1999, an All Nippon Airways Boeing 747-481D with 503 passengers on Flight 61, including 14 children and 14 crew members on board, took off from Tokyo Haneda Airport in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan and was en route to New Chitose Airport in Chitose, Japan, near Sapporo when it was hijacked by Yūji Nishizawa.

Incident

About 25 minutes after takeoff at 11:48 A.M. JST, Nishizawa used a kitchen knife which was 20 centimetres (7.9 in) long, to force a flight attendant to allow him access into the cockpit. He then forced 34-year-old First Officer Kazuyuki Koga out, remaining in the cockpit with 51-year-old captain Naoyuki Nagashima, who managed to notify Air Traffic Control (ATC) about the hijacking. Nishizawa stabbed Nagashima in the chest and took control of the plane, at one point descending to an altitude of 300 metres (980 ft).

At 12:09 P.M. JST, crew members managed to subdue Nishizawa, off-duty pilot Junji Yamauchi, who was aboard the flight took control of the aircraft, and co-pilot Koga got back into the cockpit, telling the air traffic controllers, "It's an emergency. The captain was stabbed. Prepare an ambulance." The plane made an emergency landing at Haneda Airport at 12:14 P.M. and Nishizawa was immediately arrested. A doctor confirmed the death of Nagashima, of Yokohama, shortly after the plane landed. Nishizawa was charged with murder.

Security exploit

Nishizawa had smuggled the knife aboard the aircraft by exploiting multiple security flaws at Haneda. He had discovered that it was possible to access the departure gates from the luggage claim area without going through security checks. He first checked-in for a JAL round-trip flight from Tokyo to Osaka with the knife in his checked baggage while also checking in for Flight 61; upon return to Tokyo he retrieved his baggage (with the knife) from the Osaka flight, and carried the knife (and the bag) aboard Flight 61 as carry-on luggage.

He had originally planned to carry out the hijacking one day earlier, on July 22. He had told his parents and psychiatrist that he was traveling alone to Hokkaido, but his parents had discovered his bags containing multiple airline tickets and the knife, causing him to delay his plans for one day. Nishizawa had booked tickets on multiple departing flights: in addition to Flight 61 for New Chitose, he had tickets for ANA Flight 083 for Naha which left ten minutes earlier than Flight 61, and Flight 851 for Hakodate.

Nishizawa had discovered the security flaw a month before the hijacking, and after confirming it on a round-trip flight to Kumamoto, sent letters to the Ministry of Transport, All Nippon Airways, and other agencies, in addition to major newspapers, notifying them of it. Additionally, he requested employment by the airport as a security guard. The airport made one telephone call in response, but no further action was taken until after the hijacking, when procedures were revised comprehensively throughout Japan's airports, eliminating the security flaw.

After the incident, the Japanese Transport Ministry ordered more strict checks with hand-carried baggage brought through security checkpoints before boarding any aircraft.

Aftermath

Nishizawa, born September 8, 1970, in Tokyo was, at the time, a 28-year-old unemployed man from the ward of Edogawa in Tokyo. During the investigation, it was revealed that Nishizawa had taken a large dose of SSRI medication (which are antidepressants) before the episode. Nishizawa was said to be an enthusiast of flight simulators. He said that he hijacked the plane because he wanted to fly it under the Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo. He was also found, in an examination commissioned by his defense attorney, to have Asperger syndrome. On March 23, 2005, he was found guilty but of unsound mind; therefore, he was held only partly responsible for his actions. Days later, presiding judge Hisaharu Yasui sentenced Nishizawa to life imprisonment.

Due to issues of criminal insanity, the mass media had not initially revealed Nishizawa's name when reporting on the case. However, on July 27, the Sankei Shimbun published his name and photograph, with the claim that the incident was a "serious crime". Following this case, the practice of publishing suspects' names in similar circumstances increased in Japanese tabloids and news weeklies, and eventually, national newspapers and news agencies.

The family of Nagashima sued All Nippon Airways, the Japanese state and Nishizawa's family, over Nagashima's death, alleging that poor security at the airport and aboard the plane led to the incident. A settlement with undisclosed terms was reached on December 21, 2007.

The flight number is still in use, and on the same route, but is now flown by a Boeing 787.

The aircraft involved continued to fly for All Nippon Airways until 2014 when it was withdrawn from use.

Notes

Yuji Nishizawa (西沢裕司, Nishizawa Yūji)
Kazuyuki Koga (古賀和幸, Koga Kazuyuki)
Naoyuki Nagashima (長島直之, Nagashima Naoyuki)
Junji Yamauchi (山内純二, Yamauchi Junji)

References

"ANA FLIGHT 61 LANDS SAFELY AT HANEDA AIRPORT AFTER HIJACKING INCIDENT" (Press release). All Nippon Airways. 1999-07-23. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
"Japanese hijacker kills pilot". BBC News. BBC. 1999-07-23.
Kuchment, Anna (1999-08-01). "Terror In The Tokyo Skies (hijacking of an All Nippon Airways flight results in the death of a pilot)". Newsweek.
Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 747-481D JA8966 Tokyo". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
Jeziorski, Andrzej (1999-08-04). "ANA hijack triggers security crackdown in Japan". Flight Global. Singapore. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
"Air Osama". Salon. 2003-07-23. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
Watts, Jonathan (1999-07-24). "Flight simulator fan kills pilot to take over airliner". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
"LEAD: Life term demanded for man who hijacked ANA plane in 1999". Archived from the original on 2014-08-10. Retrieved 2014-07-26.
"Man gets life for ANA hijacking, killing pilot". The Japan Times. 2005-03-24. Archived from the original on 2009-04-30.
"Family of pilot killed in ANA hijacking reaches settlement in damages suit". Mainichi Shimbun. Archived from the original on 2007-12-21. Retrieved 2007-12-21.
"NH61 (ANA61) All Nippon Flight Tracking and History". FlightAware. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
"JA8966 All Nippon Airways Boeing 747-400D". www.planespotters.net. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
"All Nippon Airways JA8966 (Boeing 747 - MSN 27442)". www.airfleets.net. Airfleets aviation. Retrieved 2020-10-30.

External links

Hijacking Description at the Aviation Safety Network

All Nippon Airways

History

Accidents and incidents	Flight 60 (1966) Flight 533 (1966) Flight 58 (1971) Flight 857 (1995) Flight 61 (1999)

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Subsidiaries

Former subsidiaries	Air Central Air Next Air Nippon Air Nippon Network Vanilla Air

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Category

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in Japan
1950s	Japan Air Lines Flight 301 (April 1952) Tachikawa air disaster (June 1953) Okinawa F-100 crash (June 1959)
1960s	Machida F-8 crash (April 1964) All Nippon Airways Flight 60 (February 1966) Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 402 (March 1966) BOAC Flight 911 (March 1966) All Nippon Airways Flight 533 (November 1966)
1970s	Japan Air Lines Flight 351 (March 1970) Flying Tiger Line Flight 45 (July 1970)* Toa Domestic Airlines Flight 63 (July 1971) All Nippon Airways Flight 58 (July 1971) Yokohama F-4 crash (September 1977) Japan Air Lines Flight 115 (June 1978)
1980s	Japan Air Lines Flight 350 (February 1982) Southwest Air Lines Flight 611 (August 1982) Narita International Airport bombing (June 1985) Japan Air Lines Flight 123 (August 1985) template Thai Airways International Flight 620 (October 1986)
1990s	Japan Air System Flight 451 (April 1993) China Airlines Flight 140 (April 1994) Philippine Airlines Flight 434 (December 1994) All Nippon Airways Flight 857 (June 1995) Garuda Indonesia Flight 865 (June 1996) All Nippon Airways Flight 61 (July 1999)
2000s	2001 Japan Airlines mid-air incident (January 2001) China Airlines Flight 120 (August 2007) FedEx Express Flight 80 (March 2009)
2010s	Asiana Airlines Flight 162 (April 2015) Korean Air Flight 2708 (May 2016)
2020s	Miyakojima helicopter crash (April 2023) Haneda Airport runway collision (January 2024)
"*" occurred in the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands Incidents in disputed territory with Russia: Habomai Islands RB-29 shootdown (October 1952)

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 1999 (1999)
Feb 24 China Southwest Airlines Flight 4509Feb 25 Minerva Airlines Flight 1553Mar 15 Korean Air Flight 1533Mar 27 F-117A shootdownApr 7 Turkish Airlines Flight 5904Apr 12 Avianca Flight 9463Apr 15 Korean Air Cargo Flight 6316Jun 1 American Airlines Flight 1420Jul 2 Tramore helicopter crashJul 7 Hinduja Cargo Services Flight 8533Jul 16 Martha's Vineyard plane crashJul 23 All Nippon Airways Flight 61Jul 24 Air Fiji Flight 121Aug 7 TACV Flight 5002Aug 10 Pakistani Atlantic shootdownAug 22 China Airlines Flight 642Aug 24 Uni Air Flight 873Aug 31 LAPA Flight 3142Sep 3 Edinburgh Air Charter Flight 3WSep 5 Necon Air Flight 128Sep 14 Britannia Airways Flight 226ASep 23 Qantas Flight 1Oct 11 Air Botswana crashOct 25 South Dakota Learjet crashOct 31 EgyptAir Flight 990Nov 9 TAESA Flight 725Nov 12 Si Fly Flight 3275Dec 7 Asian Spirit Flight 100Dec 11 SATA Air Açores Flight 530MDec 21 Cubana de Aviación Flight 1216Dec 22 Korean Air Cargo Flight 8509Dec 24 Indian Airlines Flight 814Dec 25 Cubana de Aviación Flight 310
1998 ◄ ► 2000

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1999 (1999)

Feb 24 China Southwest Airlines Flight 4509Feb 25 Minerva Airlines Flight 1553Mar 15 Korean Air Flight 1533Mar 27 F-117A shootdownApr 7 Turkish Airlines Flight 5904Apr 12 Avianca Flight 9463Apr 15 Korean Air Cargo Flight 6316Jun 1 American Airlines Flight 1420Jul 2 Tramore helicopter crashJul 7 Hinduja Cargo Services Flight 8533Jul 16 Martha's Vineyard plane crashJul 23 All Nippon Airways Flight 61Jul 24 Air Fiji Flight 121Aug 7 TACV Flight 5002Aug 10 Pakistani Atlantic shootdownAug 22 China Airlines Flight 642Aug 24 Uni Air Flight 873Aug 31 LAPA Flight 3142Sep 3 Edinburgh Air Charter Flight 3WSep 5 Necon Air Flight 128Sep 14 Britannia Airways Flight 226ASep 23 Qantas Flight 1Oct 11 Air Botswana crashOct 25 South Dakota Learjet crashOct 31 EgyptAir Flight 990Nov 9 TAESA Flight 725Nov 12 Si Fly Flight 3275Dec 7 Asian Spirit Flight 100Dec 11 SATA Air Açores Flight 530MDec 21 Cubana de Aviación Flight 1216Dec 22 Korean Air Cargo Flight 8509Dec 24 Indian Airlines Flight 814Dec 25 Cubana de Aviación Flight 310

1998 ◄ ► 2000

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