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Japan Air Lines Flight 471
	JA8012, the aircraft involved in the accident, seen in 1970 in a previous livery
Accident
Date	14 June 1972
Summary	False glide slope (Government of Japan); Pilot error, Controlled flight into terrain (Government of India);
Site	Near Palam International Airport, New Delhi
Total fatalities	90
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Douglas DC-8-53
Aircraft name	Akan
Operator	Japan Air Lines
Registration	JA8012
Flight origin	Tokyo International Airport (TYO/RJTT), Tokyo, Japan
1st stopover	Kai Tak International Airport, Hong Kong
2nd stopover	Don Mueang International Airport, Bangkok, Thailand
3rd stopover	Palam International Airport, New Delhi, India
4th stopover	Cairo International Airport, Cairo, Egypt
5th stopover	Leonardo da Vinci International Airport, Rome, Italy
6th stopover	Frankfurt International Airport, Frankfurt, West Germany
Destination	Heathrow Airport, London, United Kingdom
Occupants	89
Passengers	78
Crew	11
Fatalities	86
Survivors	3
Ground casualties
Ground fatalities	4

Japan Air Lines Flight 471 was a Japan Air Lines international flight from Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, to Palam International Airport (now Indira Gandhi International Airport) in New Delhi, India. On 14 June 1972 the Douglas DC-8-53 operating the flight, registered JA8012, crashed short of the New Delhi airport, killing 86 of the 89 occupants: 10 of 11 crew members, and 76 of 78 passengers. Four people on the ground were also killed.^[1]

Passengers

Sixteen of the dead were Americans.^[2] Brazilian actress Leila Diniz was also among those killed,^[3] as was the sole Indian passenger on the flight,^[4] Dr. K.K.P. Narasinga Rao, a senior official of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

One of the cabin attendants killed in the crash was the sister of San'yūtei Enraku V.^[5]

Sequence of events

The flight was on the Bangkok-New Delhi portion of its Tokyo-London route when the accident occurred. The flight took off from Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok at 11:21 UTC en route to New Delhi. At 14:43 UTC, the flight was given clearance for a straight-in ILS approach to runway 28. The plane crashed into the banks of the Yamuna River not long after the 23 mile (43 km) report from the DME.^[6]

Cause

The exact cause of the accident remains disputed. Investigators representing Japan pointed to the possibility of a false glide path signal causing the crash. Indian investigators claimed the crash was caused by pilot error, specifically the captain ignoring instrument indications and not having sight of the runway (the first officer was flying the approach to New Delhi).^[1]