Investigation Summary
Flight 1045 was a cargo operation transporting 56 live beef cattle to Japan. The accident crew took over the aircraft at Anchorage International Airport, which served as a technical stopover for the flight originating in Moses Lake, Washington. During the stopover, the aircraft was exposed to freezing temperatures and fog. Ground mechanics observed ice on the engine inlet guide vanes and cowlings, recommending the use of anti-icing systems, but no de-icing was performed. The captain, Hugh L. Marsh, exhibited signs of severe intoxication during the taxi ride to the airport, prompting the taxi dispatcher to call JAL operations to warn them. Despite this, the crew was allowed to board. During taxi, the crew became disoriented in the fog and mistakenly entered runway 24R instead of 24L, requiring controller assistance to correct their position. Upon takeoff from runway 24L, the aircraft reached V2 speed but stalled almost immediately at an altitude of approximately 100 feet, veered left, and crashed 300 meters past the runway end.
Final Conclusions
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued its final report, NTSB-AAR-78-07, in January 1979. It concluded that the probable cause was a stall resulting from the pilot's control inputs, which were aggravated by airframe icing while the pilot was under the influence of alcohol. A significant contributing factor was the failure of the first officer and flight engineer to prevent the captain from attempting the flight despite his obvious impairment.
Video Analysis
The Drunk Captain Who Took Off Anyway | JAL Flight 1045 — A detailed look at the 1977 crash of a JAL DC-8 cargo plane in Anchorage, focusing on the captain's severe intoxication and the crew's failure to address airframe icing.
If playback is blocked, the owner has disabled embedding — use the link above.
Airframe & Maintenance
Crew Experience
Captain
Hugh L. Marsh, age 53. Found to be heavily intoxicated post-mortem.
First Officer
Kunihiko Akatani, age 31.
Flight Engineer
Nobumasa Yokokawa, age 35.
Systems & Failure Modes
Engine Anti-Ice
Mechanics recommended the use of this system due to visible ice on inlet guide vanes, but the aircraft was not de-iced on the ground.
Stall Warning System
Investigators suspected that ice on the airfoil or transducer may have caused the stall warning to fail or provide inaccurate data.
Interesting Facts
- 01The captain's blood alcohol level was 298 mg/100 ml, nearly three times the 100 mg/100 ml legal limit for driving in Alaska at the time.
- 02A vitreous alcohol level of 310 mg/100 ml was recorded from the captain twelve hours after the crash.
- 03The aircraft was carrying 56 live beef cattle, all of which perished in the crash.
- 04Six out of thirteen people who spoke with the captain before the flight stated he appeared drunk or had been drinking.
- 05The aircraft had accumulated 19,744 flight hours at the time of the accident.
- 06Visibility at the time of takeoff was reported as approximately one-quarter mile in fog.
Safety Actions & Advisories
Crew Resource Management (CRM) Emphasis
The accident highlighted the critical need for junior crew members to challenge and, if necessary, relieve an impaired superior officer, a core tenet of modern CRM.