Japan Air Lines Flight 123

Japan Air Lines Flight 123 was supposed to fly from a super busy city called Tokyo to another big city called Osaka. Tokyo is like the heart of Japan, full of tall buildings and lots of people! The plane was a giant Boeing 747, which is like a flying bus that can carry hundreds of people. It was a sunny Monday evening when the flight took off, ready for its journey across Japan.

Just 12 minutes after taking off, something scary happened. A big part of the plane's tail broke off! This made the plane hard to steer, like trying to ride a bike with no handlebars.

For 32 minutes, the pilots tried their best to control the plane, flying it like a kite in the wind. Sadly, the plane crashed near a mountain called Mount Takamagahara, which is about as far from Tokyo as a long car ride.

This giant airplane was carrying 524 people, which is more people than can fit on a whole school bus! It's a very sad story because most of the people on board, including all 15 crew members, did not survive the crash. Only four brave people made it out alive. It was the worst accident ever for a single airplane, and it's a very sad day in Japan's history.

After a lot of searching and looking at the plane parts, smart people figured out why the tail broke. Seven years before, the plane had a little bump when it landed, like scraping your knee. The people who fixed it didn't do the best job. This weak spot eventually broke, causing the big problem in the sky. It's a reminder that even small mistakes can have big consequences.