Background
The aircraft involved in the accident was a McDonnell Douglas DC-8-43, registered CF-CPK. It had accumulated 1,792 flight hours since its delivery to Canadian Pacific Air Lines on October 14, 1965. The aircraft was powered by four Rolls-Royce Conway 508-12 turbofan engines.
Crew
The flight crew consisted of three members. Captain Cecil N. McNeal, aged 57, had 26,564 total flight hours, including 4,089 hours on the Douglas DC-8. First Officer Charles F. K. Mews, aged 58, logged 19,789 flight hours, with 3,071 on the DC-8. Flight Engineer William J. Robertson, aged 34, had 7,992 flight hours, 3,437 of which were on the DC-8.
Accident
Flight 402 was operating a route from Hong Kong to Tokyo, with a planned continuation to Vancouver. The flight departed Kai Tak International Airport at 16:14 Japan Time. After entering a holding pattern for 38 minutes due to poor visibility at Haneda Airport, the crew was cleared for an instrument approach when visibility improved to 2,400 feet. However, they cancelled the approach when visibility dropped again. At 19:58, the pilot requested a diversion to Songshan Airport in Taiwan and began climbing from 3,000 feet. At 20:05, while climbing through 11,500 feet en route to Taipei, the pilot was advised that visibility at Haneda had increased to 0.5 miles with a runway visual range of 3,000 feet. The pilot then decided to attempt another approach.
The ground-controlled approach was normal until the aircraft was 1 mile from the runway, when controllers advised that it was 20 feet too low and instructed it to level off momentarily. Despite this, the aircraft continued 20 feet below and parallel to the glide slope. After passing the precision minimum, the crew requested a reduction in runway light intensity. Shortly thereafter, the aircraft began a sharp descent. At 2,800 feet from the runway threshold, the landing gear struck eleven approach lights in sequence. The aircraft then struck a seawall at the runway threshold, and the wreckage left a 0.5-mile trail of burning debris on the airfield. Of the 62 passengers and 10 crew members on board, only 8 passengers survived.
Investigation
The Japanese government-appointed investigation team issued its report two years later. It concluded that there was no fault with the airport's control tower. The probable cause was determined to be pilot error, while acknowledging that poor visibility could have created an optical illusion that confused the pilot. The official probable cause statement read: "Pilot misjudged landing approach under unusually difficult weather conditions."
Related Events
This accident was one of five fatal aircraft disasters in Japan during 1966. Less than 24 hours later, BOAC Flight 911, a Boeing 707, passed the still-smoldering wreckage of the DC-8 before encountering extreme clear-air turbulence near Mount Fuji and breaking up in flight, killing all 124 people on board. The combined death toll from both accidents reached 188. Earlier, on February 4, 1966, All Nippon Airways Flight 60, a Boeing 727, crashed into Tokyo Bay while approaching the same airport, killing all 133 aboard. Two other incidents occurred on August 26 and November 13. The series of accidents shook public confidence in commercial aviation in Japan, leading Japan Air Lines and All Nippon Airways to reduce some domestic services.