This article lists Japan Airlines incidents and accidents. (Bold dates indicate onboard fatalities.)

1950s On 9 April 1952, Mokusei, Flight 301, a Martin 2-0-2 (N90943) leased from Northwest Orient Airlines, struck Mount Mihara while operating the first leg of a Tokyo-Osaka-Fukuoka service. The crash killed all 37 occupants on board the aircraft, including four crew members and 33 passengers. Because the aircraft did not have a CVR nor an FDR, the cause was never determined. On 30 September 1957, Unzen, Flight 108, a Douglas DC-4-1009 (JA6011), suffered failure of all four engines after takeoff from Osaka Air Base, at an altitude of . The aircraft force-landed in a rice field; all 57 on board were able to escape before the aircraft burned out. The cause was a malfunctioning cross-feed fuel valve.

1960s On 25 April 1961, Hakone, a Japan Air Lines Douglas DC-8-32 from San Francisco to Tokyo, touched down and ran off the end of the wet runway at Tokyo International Airport. The aircraft stopped after the main gear entered a ditch wide and deep, located beyond the end of the runway. The aircraft was shipped back and repaired by Douglas Aircraft Company at Long Beach, CA, United States, and returned to service as a Series 53 with a new registration (JA8008) in early 1963 and was renamed Matsushima. On 10 April 1962, Haruna, a Japan Air Lines Douglas C-54 from Fukuoka to Tokyo, made a wheels-up landing at Osaka. There were no casualties, however, the aircraft was damaged beyond repair and was written off. On 27 February 1965, Kaede, a Japan Air Lines Convair 880, was performing a low pass training near Iki Airport when, at , descended fast and struck the runway. The aircraft slid and caught fire. On 25 December 1965, Kamakura, Flight 813, en route from San Francisco International Airport to Haneda Airport experienced an uncontained engine failure in its number one engine shortly after takeoff. The crew made an emergency landing at Metropolitan Oakland International Airport across the San Francisco Bay. All 41 passengers and crew managed to survive without any injuries. The cause of the accident was failure of an operator to properly secure the torque ring on the low-pressure compressor during an engine inspection and overhaul. On 26 August 1966, Ginza, a Japan Air Lines Convair 880 (leased from Japan Domestic Airlines) yawed left for unknown reasons after the nose lifted up during a training flight at Haneda Airport. Some into takeoff, the number one engine struck the runway. The aircraft left the runway and the nose pitched down again. All four engines separated as well as the nose and left landing gear; the aircraft caught fire and burned out. All five crew died. On 5 October 1967, a Japan Air Lines Beechcraft H18 (JA5137) crashed in a field at Murayama following engine failure while completing a training flight out of Yamagata Airport; all four crew survived. On 22 November 1968, Shiga, Flight 2, operated by a Douglas DC-8, accidentally landed in San Francisco Bay approximately short of San Francisco International Airport. The aircraft was recovered after being in the water for 55 hours. There were no injuries to the crew or to any passengers. The probable cause was "the improper application of the prescribed procedures to execute an automatic-coupled ILS approach. This deviation from the prescribed procedures was, in part, due to a lack of familiarization and infrequent operation of the installed flight director and autopilot system". The aircraft was repaired by United Airlines at San Francisco International Airport and returned to JAL in March 1969. Pilot Kohhei Asoh said that he mistakenly believed that he was landing on the runway when in fact the plane hit the water several hundred yards away. On 24 June 1969, Kikyo, Flight 90, operated by a Convair 880, was taking off from runway 32R at Moses Lake Grant County International Airport. The power was reduced on the number four engine during take-off, however, the aircraft continued to yaw to the right until the number four engine struck and slid off the runway. It burst into flames, killing three of the five crew members on board. The probable cause was a "delayed corrective action during a simulated critical-engine-out takeoff maneuver resulting in an excessive sideslip from which full recovery could not be effected".

1970s

1970–1974 On 22 February 1970, a teenage boy, Keith Sapsford, climbed into the cargo area of a Douglas DC-8, registration JA8031, operating Flight 772 from Sydney to Tokyo. As the plane was taking off, he fell to his death. Unknowingly, a photographer photographed the event. On 31 March 1970, Yodo, Flight 351, operated by a Boeing 727, was hijacked by the Japanese Red Army (JRA) while en route from Tokyo to Fukuoka. The nine hijackers released all 122 passengers and seven crew members at Fukuoka Airport and Seoul's Gimpo International Airport, before proceeding to Pyongyang Sunan International Airport, where they surrendered themselves to the North Korean authorities. On 14 June 1972, Akan, Flight 471, operated by a Douglas DC-8, struck the banks of River Yamuna, about east of New Delhi's Palam International Airport (Now known as IGI Airport). The crash killed 10 out of 11 crew members, 72 out of 76 passengers on board and three people on the ground died, including famous Brazilian actress Leila Diniz and 16 Americans. Japanese investigators claimed a false glide path signal was responsible for the descent into terrain, while Indian investigators claimed it was caused by the JAL crew's disregard of laid down procedures and the abandonment of all instrument indications without properly ensuring sighting of the runway. On 24 September 1972, Haruna, Flight 472, operated by a Douglas DC-8 en route to Bombay, landed at Juhu Airport runway 08, instead of Bombay Airport runway 09. The aircraft overran the runway through a ditch. The visibility at the time was , decreasing to . There were no injuries reported, but the aircraft was written off. On 6 November 1972, Flight 351, a Boeing 727, was hijacked at during a flight from Tokyo to Fukuoka. Armed with a pistol, he demanded $2 million and to be flown to Cuba. The aircraft returned to Tokyo, where a DC-8 was waiting to fly him to Vancouver and on to Cuba. After releasing most of the hostages, he wanted to board the DC-8 while holding three crewmembers hostage. While entering the DC-8 he was overpowered by police. On 28 November 1972, Hida, Flight 446, operated by a Douglas DC-8 from Tokyo to Moscow, climbed to with a supercritical angle of attack. The aircraft lost height, hit the ground and burst into flames. Nine of the 14 crew members and 52 of the 62 passengers died in the accident. The probable cause was "the supercritical angle of attack was caused by either an inadvertent spoiler-extension in flight, or a loss of control following a number one or two engine failure (due to icing)". On 20 July 1973,"3 seize jet with 145 aboard, order it flown to Mideast", Chicago Tribune, July 21, 1973, p.1-2 Flight 404, operated by a Boeing 747-200B, was hijacked by four men and a woman, shortly after leaving Amsterdam. An accidental explosion of the explosive device the woman hijacker was carrying occurred and she was killed. The aircraft was destined for Anchorage but landed at Dubai and later took off for Damascus and Benghazi. Eventually, all the passengers and crew members were released and the aircraft was blown up on 23 July. On 12 March 1974, Flight 903, a Boeing 747SR, was hijacked at Naha Airport by a Japanese man demanding $56 million (much of it in $1000 bills) to study biology and geology. He carried a black suitcase, which he stated contained a bomb or weapons. Seven hours later the man was arrested by police officers disguised as airport workers. The suitcase ultimately contained 16000 yen, an airline ticket, a bottle of vitamins, a sweater and a pair of trousers. On 15 July 1974, a Japan Air Lines DC-8 was hijacked by a male passenger who demanded the release of the leader of the Japanese Red Army (JRA). When this demand wasn't met, he then demanded to be flown to Nagoya. After landing at Nagoya the hijacker remained on the flight deck with the pilots. Meanwhile, the flight attendants opened an emergency exit to allow the passengers to escape. Police then stormed the aircraft and arrested the hijacker.

1975–1979 In February 1975, a Japan Air Lines flight from Tokyo to Paris, making fuel stops in Anchorage and Copenhagen, had 196 passengers and one stewardess, out of 343 on board, fell ill with food poisoning, 143 of whom were seriously ill enough to need hospitalising when the plane reached Copenhagen, 30 of those critically ill. The source of the food poisoning was ham contaminated with Staphylococci from the infected cuts on the fingers of a cook in Anchorage. The ham was used in omelettes which were stored at a high temperature on the plane instead of being chilled, allowing time for the bacteria to multiply and produce an exotoxin that is not destroyed by cooking. The head of Japan Airlines catering service in Anchorage committed suicide shortly afterwards and was the only fatality of the incident. It was only luck that the pilots did not eat the omelettes (their body clocks were not in the right time zone for breakfast) and become incapacitated, leading some airlines to forbid pilots eating certain foods on the passenger menu.Barbara A. Munce, "Inflight gastroenteritis significance for air crew" , Cabin Crew Safety, vol. 24, no. 6, p. 2, Flight Safety Foundation, November/December 1989.Lawrence K. Altman, Who Goes First?: The Story of Self-experimentation in Medicine, pp. 179-180, University of California Press, 1987 .Associated Press, "Catering company official takes own life in wake of food poisoning probe", The Bulletin, p. 7, 10 February 1975. On 9 April 1975, Flight 514, operated by a Boeing 747SR, was hijacked by a man who pointed a gun at a steward and demanded 30 million yen (around $100,000). After landing at Tokyo, police boarded the aircraft and overpowered the hijacker while he was speaking to the pilot. Although the hijacker fired his gun once during the incident, no one was injured. On 16 December 1975, Flight 422, operated by a Boeing 747-200B (), slid off the north side of the east–west taxiway at Anchorage International Airport during taxi for a takeoff on runway 06R. The aircraft weathercocked about 70 degrees to the left and slid backward down a snow-covered embankment with an average slope of -13 degrees. The aircraft came to a stop on a heading of 150 degrees on a service road about from, and below, the taxiway surface. On 5 January 1976, Flight 768, operated by a Douglas DC-8, was hijacked by two Filipino passengers armed with pistols and explosives at Manila Airport before takeoff. Negotiations began and all but eight passengers were released. The hijackers demanded a free flight to Japan, but when Japanese authorities refused to give the aircraft permission to land, the hijackers surrendered. On 13 January 1977, Cargo Flight 1045, a Douglas DC-8 freighter, stalled after liftoff from Anchorage International Airport and crashed past the runway. The aircraft was on a non-scheduled operation and all five occupants on board, including three crew members and two passengers, were killed. The aircraft began takeoff at the wrong position on the runway and his decision was not questioned by his fellow crew members. The captain's initial blood alcohol level was ; was the legal intoxication limit for the state of Alaska. The probable cause was "a stall that resulted from the pilot's control inputs aggravated by airframe icing while the pilot was under the influence of alcohol. Contributing to the cause of this accident was the failure of the other flightcrew members to prevent the captain from attempting the flight".