Criminal Issues in Administrative and Supervisory Liability : Focusing on the Decision Not to Indict in the 1985 JAL B-747 Crash Case

IKDA Yoshihiko

The investigation of the crash of the Japan Airlines Boeing 747 in August 1985, has ended without anyone being found criminally responsible. This seems less than satisfactory. The crash of the JAL jetliner in a mountain in Gunma-ken claimed 520 lives. The Maebashi District Prosecutor's Office decided not to indict anyone from Boeing Co., JAL or the Transport Ministry. These parties had been referred by the police to the prosecutors for possible involuntary manslaughter charges. The prosecutor's office said the direct cause of the crash was faulty repair on the bulkhead of the aircraft by Boeing technicians after the plane was damaged at Osaka International Airport in 1978. During its investigation, the Maebashi prosecution office applied to the U. S. Department of Justice to question the maintenance staff at the U. S. aircraft campany. The request was rejected by Boeing staff on the baisis of an amendment to Article 5 of the U. S. Constitution which guarantees Americans rights to refuse taking part in hearing that may bring criminal charges against them. In the United States, greater weight in an investigation is placed on preventing a recurrence of a similar accident than on pursuing a criminal indictment. Charges against JAL and Transport Ministry officials were dropped on the grounds that there were insufficient evidence to suggest responsibility. It could have been the first time that the safety design and repairs of an aircraft would figure in a judical case. In this article, author introduced and analyzed a new type of administrative and supervisory negligent liability.

Criminal Issues in Administrative and Supervisory Liability : Focusing on the Decision Not to Indict in the 1985 JAL B-747 Crash Case

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