The Captain’s Confession

The author of this book, Hiroshi Sugie, is a senior captain at Japan Airlines (JAL) and has long been involved in promoting flight safety within the company.

Based on his own flight experience, Captain Sugie classifies aviation accidents. He not only analyzes the causes of accidents from a pilot’s perspective but also proposes solutions to avoid various types of accidents. The content is extremely detailed.

The author seems to be a celebrity; I have occasionally seen him explaining aviation accidents on TV news programs. He has over 20,000 hours of flight experience in the Boeing 747 and is known as the pilot with the most flight hours on the 747 in the world.

Additionally, he is a photography enthusiast, particularly fond of steam trains. He has traveled around the world taking photographs and has published several photo collections. Of course, he has also taken a lot of aviation photos. I bought one of his aerial photography collections—1万メートルからの地球絶景 (Breathtaking Earth Views from 10,000 Meters).

Here is a brief summary of the content that left a deep impression on me in The Captain’s Confession:

Regarding the totally out-of-control accidents like the JAL 123 crash, he referred to the successful landing of a United Airlines DC10 and provided a detailed explanation of the simulated control techniques. Simply put, it involves a ditching at sea and controlling the heading by adjusting the thrust of the left and right engines.

Detailed analysis of several CFIT (Controlled Flight Into Terrain) cases. He himself had an experience of flying too low during an approach to Guam at night, so he offered many suggestions.

V1 is not the decision speed for becoming airborne; it should be the speed at which deceleration begins. The decision for an RTO (Rejected Takeoff) should be made before V1. Sugie himself has had an experience of performing an RTO before V1.

Control methods when the aircraft encounters abnormal attitudes due to turbulence or other factors.

Methods to avoid hard landing. He wrote specialized training materials within JAL and promoted them.

Explanation on avoiding airborne conflicts. During the Vietnam War, Sugie experienced a near-collision with a US fighter jet. Since then, he has been extremely cautious about such situations.

Explanation regarding engine failure on one side. I don’t know why, but he has encountered this kind of thing as well.

1万メートルからの地球絶景 (Breathtaking Earth Views from 10,000 Meters)

Captain Hiroshi Sugie’s aviation photography. He introduces several routes that he believes offer the most spectacular scenery, such as from Canada to Mexico, from Tokyo to Moscow, from Sydney to Tokyo, from Hawaii to Tokyo, and from Tokyo to Beijing/Pakistan/Southeast Asia. Combining maps, airways, and flight times, he selected over 100 excellent photographic works.

My feeling after reading it is that the earth is truly beautiful. Some places look just like oil paintings, giving one an involuntary feeling: “There are such beautiful places on earth!!” The glaciers of Alaska, the aurora near the North Pole, the coral atolls in the ocean, the desolation of Siberia, etc. The beautiful scenery from an altitude of 10,000 meters is fascinating.

The unnamed island on the cover is located near the equator. Because tropical cumulus clouds are frequent, there aren’t many chances to see it. Therefore, the crew members consider seeing it a symbol of good luck and gave it a nickname based on its shape: “Butterfly Island.”

My favorite photo in the book is of the Karakoram, where the mountains are shrouded in clouds and mist, looking like a fairyland.

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