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1 September | • | Maritime Safety Agency
published statistics for leisure-related maritime
accidents occurring from July to August
1997. Total of 232 maritime accidents
resulted in 12 deaths and missing persons,
worst record since Agency started collecting
statistics 5 years ago
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3 September | • | 40 people missing and
feared dead after bus carrying 60 plunged
into flooded Kail River in western India
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| • | TU134 aircraft of Vietnam
Air crashed and burned at Pochentong
International Airport in Phnom Penh, Cambodia,
killing 65 and leaving seriously-injured
infant as sole survivor
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| • | Toronto-bound passenger
train derailed 90 km west of Saskatchewan,
Canada, killing one passenger and injuring
65
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6 September | • | Dornier 228 propeller
plane crashed into jungle in Sarawak, Malaysia,
killing all 10 crew members and passengers
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| • | Turkish President,
Suleyman Demirel criticized ‘traffic terror’
in Turkey after latest bus crash in series of
accidents killed 33
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9 September | • | Train and fuel truck collided
at level crossing near St-Antoine-du-
Breuilh, France, killing 13 and injuring 49
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10 September | • | New 20-m ferry capsized
off Haiti's central coast, drowning some 400
passengers
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14 September | • | Train accident at
Bilaspur, India killed 82 and injured 234
people, after railway crew removed tracks
for repair without informing superiors or railway
station
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19 September | • | Express train of Great
Western Trains Co., Ltd. collided with
freight train at Southall Station, west London,
killing six passengers and injuring 160.
GW president on board and hospitalized
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| • | Bus ran into sea in Phu
Yen Province, Vietnam, drowning 33 and
injuring 15
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21 September | • | Light plane crashed on
take off from municipal airport at Torrance,
California, killing all four persons on board
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| • | Overloaded river ferry
capsized after being caught in strong current
in eastern India, drowning at least 20
people
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22 September | • | Two passenger trains
bound for Manila collided at Muntinglupa,
killing 7 passengers and injuring around
200
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23 September | • | Ms Tomoko Otake copiloted
flight from Haneda to Hakodate,
Hokkaido to become first female 747 pilot
at Japan Air Lines
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26 September | • | Airbus A300 of Garuda
Indonesian Airways crashed in northern
Sumatra, killing all 234 on board
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29 September | • | East Japan Railway
Company (JR East) completed move to
new HQ near south entrance of Shinjuku
Station, Tokyo. Site of former building in
Marunouchi to be sold to pay off part of JNR
long-term debt
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30 September | • | Teito Rapid Transit Authority
inaugurated new 2.2-km section connecting
Yotsuya and Tameike Sanno.
Concurrent with inauguration, TRTA also
celebrated opening of Tameike Toranomon
Station on Ginza Line, between Akasaka
Mitsuke and Toranomon
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1 October | • | Overcrowded bus careened
off bridge into swift-flowing stream in southern
India, leaving 65 of 70 passengers
missing
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| • | Nagano-bound shinkansen
opened, linking Takasaki with Nagano
(117.4 km) and cutting journey time by
Asama from Tokyo to Nagano (222.4 km)
from 3 hours and 7 minutes (average) to 1
hour and 19 minutes
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| • | Ministry of Transport merged
Railway Development Fund and Maritime
Credit Corporation to form public Corporation
for Advanced Transport & Technology
(CATT) responsible for granting subsidies
to shinkansen construction projects, interest-
free loans to construct and improve arterial
and urban railways, and loans and
credits for maritime shipping companies
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| • | Three explosions under train
standing at Ghaziabad Station near New
Delhi killed at least two passengers and injured
38
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2 October | • | Bus packed with Moroccan
farm workers plunged from overpass onto
major highway in Aix-en-Provence, France,
leaving 12 dead and 20 injured
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3 October | • | Next-generation cars for
Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen unveiled at
JR Central Hamamatsu Works in Shizuoka
Prefecture, Japan. 700 Series (16 cars) designed
jointly by JR Central and JR West,
feature reduced noise and vibration
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8 October | • | JR Central made stock offering
at four stock exchanges including
Tokyo at opening price of ¥359,000
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10 October | • | Express passenger train
smashed into freight train standing at
Shingia Station near Jessore, Bangladesh,
leaving 12 dead and injuring 30
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| • | Argentine DC-9 airliner
crashed in fierce storm in Uruguay, killing
all 75 people on board
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12 October | • | Super Azusa 13 express
collided with empty out-of-service train at
Otsuki Station on JR East Chuo Line,
Yamanashi Prefecture, injuring 31 passengers
and driver of empty train
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| • | Kyoto Municipal Subway
commenced commercial operation of 12.7-
km East-West Line. Kyoshin Line (operated
by Keihan Electric Railway Company)
which ran parallel to new line discontinued
service between Sanjo and Goryo
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13 October | • | Bus carrying senior citizens
on sightseeing trip plunged into ravine in
central Quebec, Canada, killing 43 out of
48 people onboard
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14 October | • | Crowded bus carrying 110
children plunged 10 meters into river near
New Delhi, killing 27 children and injuring 60
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15 October | • | UK team sets world land
speed record of 1200 km/h at Black Rock
Desert, Nevada, in car powered by two jet
engines from F4 Phantom fighter
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21 October | • | Railway station waiting room
collapsed in Bombay, India, killing at least
8 and injuring 60
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25 October | • | Passenger bus collided with
empty fuel truck near Konya, Turkey, killing
48 people and injuring 8
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27 October | • | Ms Maki Ishimura of JR
Freight debuted as first female train driver
in JR group by hauling freight train from
Tokyo Freight Terminal to Kawasaki Station
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28 October | • | Speeding 16-car passenger
train slammed into truck at crossing
near Guangzhou, China, killing 6 people
and injuring many others
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11 November | • | Chinese freighter Chu Hai
(2300 tons) collided with Panamanian
freighter Asian Hibiscus (7000 tons) and
sunk in Kanmon Strait, Fukuoka Prefecture,
Japan, leaving two crew missing
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17 November | • | Terrorist group opened
fire on foreign tourists at Luxor, southern
Egypt killing 62
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21 November | • | Japanese Ministry of
Transport published FY1997 report on
transportation and economy (White Paper
on Transport) noting that airline and trucking
deregulation created new demand and
lower prices, while admitting negative
social effects, such as discontinuation of
unprofitable services
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25 November | • | Japanese Association of
Tourist Agencies held JATA '97 international
conference in Tokyo attended by about
1500 people from 81 countries
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28 November | • | Panamanian-registered
freighter Kuroshima owned by Kyokuyo
Kaiun ran aground off Dutch Harbor,
Unalaska Island in Aleutians killing two
crew and discharging 7.6 million kiloliters
of fuel oil into sea
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| • | Japan's MLX01 experimental
linear motor car recorded manned
world speed record of 503 km/h in running
test jointly conducted by JR Central and JR
Railway Technology Research Institute at
18.4-km experimental track in Yamanashi
Prefecture. Research team plans final goal
of 550 km/h to pave way for commercial
operation at 500 km/h
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29 November | • | Nozomi shinkansen connecting
Tokyo and Hakata, Kyushu, increased
maximum speed to 300 km/h and
reduced journey time by 15 minutes to 4
hours and 49 minutes, thanks to new Series
500 car developed by JR West
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| • | JR Oito Line linking Otari
and Kotaki (21.7 km) in Nagano and Niigata
prefectures, Japan, restored to full service
over entire route after 26 months of repairs
due to flood damage
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