Ruling In Unprecedented Criminal Trial

A Japanese court has cleared a Japan Airlines pilot of professional negligence in a 1997 incident that led to the eventual death of a flight attendant and injury to 13 passengers.

Koichi Takamoto was captain on JAL Flight 706 from Hong Kong to Nagoya on June 8, 1997. Prosecutors accused him of making abrupt changes in the MD-11's attitude without disengaging the autopilot. That move is prohibited in the aircraft's operating manual, according to civil aviation investigators. Flight attendant Atsuko Taniguchi, 34, was thrown to the floor and then to the ceiling by the violent maneuver. She died 20 months later after sustaining severe head injuries.

While clearing Takamoto of criminal negligence, Presiding Judge Yoji Ishiyama blamed the pilot for shaking the aircraft so violently. At a news conference after the verdict was read, Takamoto said again and again, "It is not acceptable."

His lawyers argued that the severe jarring encountered by Flight 706 was caused by a brief computer malfunction and turbulence along the route of flight. They also argued that the 14 people who were hurt had disobeyed Takamoto's instruction to fasten their seat belts.

But what disturbed the Air Line Pilots' Association of Japan most was the use of a civil aviation investigative report in open court. Japan is a signator to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, which states in its bylaws that investigative reports should be used only to prevent future accidents.

But Judge Ishiyama ruled that the report was admissible so long as it had been made public.

FMI: www.jal.co.jp/en