{{Short description|Thai Airways flight damaged by in-flight explosion}} {{Coord missing|Japan}}{{Infobox aircraft occurrence | occurrence_type = Accident | name = Thai Airways International Flight 620 | date = 26 October 1986 | image = Thai Airways International Airbus A300B4-601 HS-TAE at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, 5 July 2005.jpg | caption = HS-TAE, the aircraft involved, photographed in 2005 | summary = Accidental hand grenade explosion | site = [[Tosa Bay]], while en-route Manila to Osaka | aircraft_name = Sukhothai | aircraft_type = [[Airbus A300|Airbus A300B4-601]] | origin = [[Don Mueang International Airport]], Bangkok, Thailand | stopover = [[Ninoy Aquino International Airport]]<br />[[Manila]], Philippines | destination = [[Osaka International Airport]], Osaka, Japan | operator = [[Thai Airways|Thai Airways International]] | IATA = TG620 | ICAO = THA620 | callsign = THAI 620 | tail_number = HS-TAE | occupants = 247 | passengers = 233 | crew = 14 | fatalities = 0 | injuries = 109 | survivors = 247 }}
'''Thai Airways International Flight 620''' was a scheduled [[Thai Airways|Thai Airways International]] passenger flight from [[Bangkok]] to [[Osaka]] via [[Manila]]. On 26{{nbs}}October 1986, the [[Airbus A300B4-601]] aircraft, which originated in Bangkok, suffered an explosion mid-flight. The aircraft was later repaired and there were no fatalities. The cause was a [[grenade|hand grenade]] brought onto the plane by a Japanese gangster of the [[Yamaguchi-gumi]]. 109 of the 239 people on board were injured. The aircraft descended rapidly and was able to land safely at Osaka.<ref name="ASN">{{cite web|last=Ranter|first=Harro|title=Thai Airways International Flight 620|url=http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19861026-0|website=aviation-safety.net|publisher=[[Aviation Safety Network]]}}</ref><ref name="theory">{{cite news |last=Snyder |first=Janet |date=29 October 1986 |title=Police check gangster grenade blast theory |work=[[United Press International|UPI]] |url=http://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/10/29/Police-check-gangster-grenade-blast-theory/6790530946000/ |url-status=live |access-date=8 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170804012350/http://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/10/29/Police-check-gangster-grenade-blast-theory/6790530946000/ |archive-date=4 August 2017}}</ref><ref name="scare">{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=30 October 1986 |title=Gangster's grenade causes jet scare |work=[[Japan Times]] |url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2011/10/16/national/history/men-marrying-later-the-new-diet-building-opens-grenade-causes-plane-scare/ |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=8 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803214353/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2011/10/16/national/history/men-marrying-later-the-new-diet-building-opens-grenade-causes-plane-scare/ |archive-date=3 August 2017}}</ref><ref name="caused">{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=31 October 1986 |title=Police say grenade caused Airbus blast |work=[[China Daily]] |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/html/cd/1986/198610/19861031/19861031001_9.html |url-status=dead |access-date=8 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803213435/http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/html/cd/1986/198610/19861031/19861031001_9.html |archive-date=3 August 2017}}</ref><ref name="prompts">{{cite news |last=Haberman |first=Clyde |date=4 November 1986 |title=Thai Plane Incident Prompts a New Look at Japan Gangs |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/04/world/thai-plane-incident-prompts-a-new-look-at-japan-gangs.html |url-status=live |access-date=8 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524184245/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/04/world/thai-plane-incident-prompts-a-new-look-at-japan-gangs.html |archive-date=24 May 2015 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=2 November 1986 |title=Yakuza Branches Out |agency=[[Associated Press]] |url=http://www.joc.com/maritime-news/yakuza-branches-out_19861102.html |access-date=8 July 2017}}</ref><ref name="plunge">{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=27 October 1986 |title=Passengers Tell of Plunge in Jetliner |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-10-27-mn-7711-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=14 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118221654/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-10-27-mn-7711-story.html |archive-date=18 November 2022}}</ref><ref name="acts">{{cite web|title=Criminal Acts Against Civil Aviation 1986|url=http://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a193020.pdf|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230724022528/https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a193020.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 24, 2023}}</ref>{{Excessive citations inline|date=May 2024}}
== Incident == At around 8:00{{nbs}}p.m. on 26{{nbs}}October 1986, Thai Airways International Flight 620 (Airbus A300-600, Registration HS-TAE) was cruising above [[Tosa Bay]] off the coast of [[Kochi Prefecture]], carrying 14 crews and 233 passengers, when the rear of the aircraft suddenly suffered an explosion, resulting in rapid decompression and damage to the [[Aft pressure bulkhead|rear pressure bulkhead]], severing two of the three hydraulic pipes. As a result, the aircraft veered off course for about 100 kilometers and into restricted air space of the [[Japan Air Self Defense Force]], as well as going into a [[dutch roll]] at one point, but the aircraft managed to make an emergency landing at [[Itami Airport|Osaka Itami Airport]] at 8:40{{nbs}}p.m.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1986-10-28 |title=事故のタイ機、油圧系統2つまで切断 |language=ja |work=[[Asahi Shimbun]]}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Murano<!--https://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BA57426742 has the name--> |first=Kaoru |title=明治・大正・昭和・平成事件・犯罪大事典 |date=July 2002 |isbn=4808940035 |edition=1st |location=Tokyo |pages=432}}</ref>
As a result of the explosion and the aircraft's violent turbulence, a total of 109 passengers and crew suffered injuries, with 14 of them suffering severe injuries.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=1986-10-27 |title=タイ航空機、圧力隔壁破壊で緊急着陸 |language=ja |work=Asahi Shimbun}}</ref>
== Investigation == Initially, it was believed that, like [[Japan Air Lines Flight 123]] a year before, some sort of a mechanical problem was to blame for the incident.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=1986-10-27 |title=最新鋭機が「なぜ」 タイ機事故、首ひねる航空関係者 |language=ja |work=Asahi Shimbun}}</ref> While the aircraft was delivered less than three weeks before the incident, the pressurization devices were having issues in the week leading up to the incident, with reports being made that warning lights were turning on.<ref name=":2" />
However, it was quickly revealed after the aircraft was examined by the {{Interlanguage link|Osaka Prefectural Police|ja|大阪府警察}} that the explosion was caused by some sort of an explosive that was brought in, rather than the aircraft itself.<ref name="caused" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=1986-10-29 |title=だれがタイ機に爆発物 |language=ja |work=Asahi Shimbun (Evening Edition)}}</ref> Ultimately, a 43-year-old {{em|[[yakuza]]}} of the Yamaguchi-gumi admitted to [[smuggling]] the hand grenade into the aircraft. The {{em|yakuza}} stated that he "accidentally pulled the [[safety pin]] off in the toilet that was at the rear left area of the toilet" and that "he tried to put the pin back in, but it didn't work, so he left it behind in the toilet and let it blow up".<ref name="theory" /><ref name="scare" /><ref name="prompts" /><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=1986-10-29 |title=タイ機爆発、故意ほのめかす供述 |language=ja |work=Asahi Shimbun (Evening Edition)}}</ref>
== Aftermath == The {{em|yakuza}} who brought in the hand grenade was not arrested until after he was discharged from the hospital, because the man had suffered severe burns all over his body as oil from a broken hydraulic pipe poured over him during the incident.<ref name="scare" />
The aircraft involved, HS-TAE, was delivered less than three weeks before the incident on October 9.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1986}} {{Aviation accidents and incidents in Japan}} {{Portal bar|Thailand|Japan|Philippines|Aviation}}
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving the Airbus A300]] [[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1986]] [[Category:Thai Airways International accidents and incidents|620]] [[Category:October 1986 in Asia]] [[Category:Yamaguchi-gumi|Yamaguchi-gumi]] [[Category:Crime in Japan]] [[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Japan]]