Haunting photo from 'worst plane crash of all time'

Haunting photos taken just minutes before the plane dubbed the 'air Titanic' crashed, killing 520 people, have been resurfaced.

Four decades on, the tragic crash of Japan Airlines Flight 123 remains one of the "worst aviation disasters of all time," according to The Sun. The haunting final photo of the plane was taken just seconds before it crashed in a catastrophic failure - killing all 520 people on board.

The tragedy occurred on August 12, 1985, when a Boeing 747SR-46 crashed 100 km northwest of Tokyo.

There were 509 passengers and 15 crew members on board. Only four of them survived.

The plane was heading to Osaka after departing from Tokyo when the tail section suffered an accident.

PHOTO: REDDIT

The flight, dubbed the "Airborne Titanic", took off from Tokyo and was en route to Osaka when it tragically crashed in a remote area of ​​the Takamagahara mountains.

And to this day, it remains the worst disaster in aviation history.

One of the last few photos shows the plane missing its tailplane.

In another photo, the last taken on the plane, oxygen masks dangle from the ceiling.

The Boeing 747SR-46 was deemed completely stable and the journey began normally after all routine checks. However, just 12 minutes after takeoff, First Officer Yutaka Sasaki and Captain Masami Takahama noticed a tremors that ripped through the plane.

The aircraft rapidly lost pressure, causing the ceiling near the rear lavatory to collapse, severely damaging the fuselage and destroying all four hydraulic lines.

The last photo taken on the fateful Japan Airlines flight shows oxygen masks hanging in the air.

PHOTO: REDDIT

Immediately after the tremor was detected, the air condensed into fog, forcing the oxygen masks to lower.

For 30 terrifying minutes, the pilots fought desperately to regain control of the plane, but it fell into a disorienting and chaotic loop of falling and rising.

Unfortunately, the out-of-control plane continued to dive and got closer to the mountains where it crashed and exploded.

According to reports, Captain Takahama made a last-ditch effort to keep the plane afloat by using the engine's thrust to climb and descend.

About 20 minutes after the incident, US Air Force pilot Michael Antonucci reported to the crash site. However, search and rescue efforts were delayed, and survivors were not found until several hours later.

Accident scene

PHOTO: GETTY

Japanese officials delayed sending rescue teams, assuming there were no survivors. The Japanese military only sent rescue teams the next morning, 12 hours after the accident was reported.

"If we had discovered it 10 hours earlier, we could have found more survivors," said a doctor involved in the rescue mission.

Survivor Yumi Ochiai claims to have heard others wailing throughout the night, until the bitter cold finally set in.

Two years later, after a comprehensive investigation, the Japanese Aircraft Accident Investigation Board determined that the decompression was due to a repair error by Boeing workers.

According to Ron Schleede, a member of the US National Transportation Safety Board, the crew did everything possible to avoid the disaster, which was "unavoidable".

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/buc-anh-am-anh-trong-vu-tai-nan-may-bay-toi-te-nhat-moi-thoi-dai-185250819150536333.htm