Date:	Tuesday 28 November 1972
Time:	19:51
Type:	McDonnell Douglas DC-8-62
Owner/operator:	Japan Air Lines - JAL
Registration:	JA8040
MSN:	46057/474
Year of manufacture:	1969
Engine model:	Pratt & Whitney JT3D-
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 61 / Occupants: 76
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	Moskva-Sheremetyevo Airport (SVO) -   Russia
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Passenger - Scheduled
Departure airport:	Moskva-Sheremetyevo Airport (SVO/UUEE)
Destination airport:	Tokyo-Haneda Airport (HND/RJTT)
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
A McDonnell Douglas DC-8-62 passenger plane, JA8040, was destroyed when it crashed on takeoff from Moscow's -Sheremetyevo Airport (SVO), Russia.
Five of the 14 crew members and ten of the 62 passengers survived the accident.
JAL flight JL446 was a scheduled international flight from Copenhagen (CPH), Denmark to Tokyo-Haneda (HND), Japan with an en route stop in Moscow.
The flight to Moscow was uneventful and the airplane landed at 18:17. After servicing of the aircraft startup and taxi clearance was received at 19:38. JL446 was cleared for takeoff from runway 25 at 19:49.
On takeoff the DC-8 climbed to 100 m with a supercritical angle of attack and lost height abruptly. It hit the ground and burst into flames.

PROBABLE CAUSE:
The cause of the disaster to aircraft DC-8-62 JA-8040 resided in the fact that during take-off and following attainment of the safety speed V2, the crew put the aircraft into a supercritical angle of attack which resulted in loss of speed and altitude.
The aircraft's assumption of supercritical angles of attack was the consequence of one of the following circumstances:
a) inadvertent extension of the spoilers in flight, leading to a fall in the maximum value of the lift ratio and an increase in drag;
b) loss of control of the aircraft by the crew in conditions associated with malfunctioning of the No. 1 or No. 2 engine consequent upon possible ice formation on the engine intake at a time when the de-icing system was switched off.
The anomalies in the functioning of the engines observed by the crew and other witnesses may have arisen after the aircraft had assumed a supercritical angle of attack with the spoilers extended.

Flight International 05 November 1977 (1342)
ICAO Circular 132-AN/93 (22-26)

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