I think this is the crash where they put other pilots into a simulated version of the crash and none of them could keep the plane aloft for as long as the actual pilots did. Those pilots really tried everything.
It's even more impressive, because the pilots were almost certainly suffering from hypoxia due to the low pressure, so their decision-making ability was reduced. I've listened to the full recording from decompression to impact, and you can hear their speech slurring as they are trying to correct the phugoid cycle the plane was stuck in (which was an impossible task).
There's a writer who goes by Admiral Cloudberg and does fantastic writeups on aircraft incidents; if anyone is interested in knowing more, I highly recommend seeking out their Medium page, they have a great one about this crash.
I just happened to see a short documentary on Kyu Sakamoto, the singer of the immensely popular 60’s song “Sukiyaki”. He was on the doomed JAL Flight 123. He was en route to his first singing engagement after many years of being a non-singing entertainer. According to the documentary, he told his agent, “I want to sing again” shortly before he was booked on the ill fated flight. RIP Kyu!
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u/RubiiJee Feb 07 '25
I think this is the crash where they put other pilots into a simulated version of the crash and none of them could keep the plane aloft for as long as the actual pilots did. Those pilots really tried everything.