Two of the 12 cabin crew on a Japan Airlines jetliner involved in a dramatic near miss with another JAL plane in January have been diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder, company officials said Tuesday.
Recent medical tests also suggest that the other cabin crew members are suffering from acute stress disorder, the officials said.
They are exhibiting symptoms such as sleeplessness, an inability to concentrate, and an increase in their smoking and drinking habits, they said.
PTSD symptoms tend to last longer than those of acute stress disorder.
All 12 told doctors they occasionally fear they may experience a similar incident in the future.
The crew members were operating Flight 907, a Boeing 747 from Tokyo's Haneda airport bound for Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, on Jan. 31.
It nearly collided with Flight 958, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 flying from Pusan, South Korea, to Narita airport, as the two aircraft crossed paths over Shizuoka Prefecture.
The Boeing aircraft, which had 427 passengers and crew members on board, dived suddenly to avoid a collision, causing the cabin crew to lurch violently into the ceiling and plane fixtures.
Some 100 people on that plane were injured in the incident.
Crew members took between 17 days and 121 days to recover before returning to work.
None of the 250 passengers and crew members aboard the McDonnell Douglas plane were hurt.
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