The airline industry and the transport ministry are trying to overhaul safety standards following a series of blunders involving commercial aircraft, but finding a quick solution will not be easy.
At least 13 of about 20 major problems revealed this year resulted from human error on the part of pilots, cabin attendants and mechanics, raising fears of a major crash, like that of the Japan Airlines jumbo jet in the mountains of Gunma Prefecture in 1985 that killed 520 people -- the worst single-aircraft disaster in history. The crash was blamed on faulty repair work after the jet's tail scraped a runway on an earlier flight.
"Flight crews have become nervous, fearful of repeating any blunder, but such a tense atmosphere is unhealthy because that could trigger other mistakes," said Ken Mamba, a 43-year-old JAL captain.
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