THE SIGHT & THE SOUND 13/14 : Japan Airlines DC-10 JA8545 documentary from Ho Chi Minh to Osaka

JAPAN AIRLINES DC-10-40 JA8545 HO CHI MINH (SGN) – OSAKA (KIX), MARCH 24, 1997

This inflight documentation is almost two decades old and features a flight onboard Japan Airlines (JAL) DC-10-40 (with center gear), from Ho Chi Minh City to Osaka-Kansai (Japan). This flight took place a week after the sensational flight rotation on Balkan IL-18 to Newfoundland. My return journey back from Sofia to Seoul, South Korea took me via Prague (CSA TU-134A), Budapest (Malev B 737-500), Copenhagen (Malev TU-134A), Bangkok (Thai DC-10), Ho Chi Minh (Thai A-300-600), Haiphong (Vietnam Airlines TU-134A), from Hanoi (Vietnam Airlines A-320) via Ho Chi Minh to Osaka - KIX (JAL, DC-10). From there to Tokyo-Haneda (JAL 777-200) and finally to Seoul from Tokyo-Narita on Asiana B 747-400. All of this happened in March, 1997, the busiest month of flying in my lifetime.
This flight was taped with the very first generation of video cameras with digital recording on mini DV cassettes. There were neither stabilizing nor focusing features available at that time.
I therefore apologize for the poor video quality and hope that you still can capture the feeling of what it was like to fly in the 90s.

History of Japan Airlines – JAL – DC-10-40 JA8545

Airframe 47853 was manufactured 1980 and delivered to Japan Airlines, registered JA8545, December 19, 1980. JA8545 operated for Japan Asia Airways from August 16, 1992 and returned to Japan Airlines, November 8, 1995. JA8545 was acquired by the Wells Fargo Bank Northwest (WFBN) and registered N853VV for storage and further exploitation, August 29, 2005.