An Interesting Story About One Of JAL DC-8's: On May 27, 1968 a DC-8-62, registered JA8032 (as in the model above), was delivered to JAL & named 'Shiga.' Unfortunately, after less than six months of service, this aircraft landed in San Francisco Bay, approximately 2 miles (3Kms) short of the runway at San Francisco International Airport. Fortunately, where the aircraft "touched down" the water was shallow (approximately 9 feet deep) and once the landing gear settled into the mud of the bay the water level was just at the bottom of the passenger door sills. All passengers were safely evacuated & there were no injuries - except for a nearly new DC-8-62. It was another stroke of luck that United Air Lines (the largest DC-8 operator in the world) had a huge maintenance base located at San Francisco Airport and could actually repair the DC-8 and return it to 'as new' condition. Shortly after the mishap the aircraft was hoisted out of the bay, placed on a barge and then towed over to United's Maintenance Facility. It is a testament to United Air Lines & their Maintenance Staff's ability, that after approximately 52,000 man hours in a four month period, DC-8-62 JA8032 again took to the air on March 26, 1969. It was returned to JAL on March 31, 1969, along with a 4 Million Dollar Repair Bill. JAL renamed the aircraft from 'Shiga' to 'Hidaka' and JA8032 went back into passenger service and continued to fly for JAL for 14 more years. In fact, this aircraft is still flying today for Airborne Express as N808AX, over 30 years since the "crash." Now that's a testament to how well built (and could be rebuilt) the Douglas DC-8 is!
