Douglas DC-8:
From 1967 to 1980 the most represented aircraft type in Koutei Koku inventory was the douglas DC-8. Over the years the airline owned 48 of them: 4 DC-8-10, 9 DC-8-30, 20 DC-8-50 and 15 DC-8-62. forty-six of them operating at the same time at the highest, in 1971.
The DC-8-10 was the first jet-powered airliner Koutei Koku recieved. Four were delivered in 1960, operating domestic routes between Toumachi, Kumoi, Hoshiguma and Taniguchi. Fast, reliable and spacious, the Douglas jetliner revolutionized domestic air travel for all those who where lucky enough to travel within the four served cities (the others had to wait 1964 for the first 727s if not more..). As air travel spiked, however, they became victims of their own success. While enjoying a flawless safety record they had become too small for their task. with the advent of the 747 on domestic routes all four were retired in 1972.
Nine DC-8-30 were delivered from 1961 to 1963, augmenting the DC-7s (superseding them as the airline long-haul flagships) and replacing the DC-6s on international service. They shared the excellent safety record of their short-range siblings, with the only notable occurrence involving the type being an attempted hijacking that was immediately thwarted in 1974. All were retired by the end of 1975.
Delivered between 1963 and 1968, the twenty DC-8-50s were the backbone of Koutei Koku international fleet for a decade. The type entry into service allowed to vastly expand the long-haul network, with the addition of new routes to the US, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong-kong, most of them non-stop. One -50 model was involved in the only DC-8 fatal crash suffered by Koutei Koku: On July 27th 1973, while trying to land at Osaka Airport during Typhoon Ellen, the plane was caught in a downdraft and crashed short of the runway, resulting in 52 fatalities out of the 126 people on board. With the advent of the long-range 747s and the DC-10, most DC-8-50s were moved from international to domestic service. Two airframes were withdrawn in 1974, the others were kept active up to another decade. With more 747 replacing the ones still flying international and the A-300 replacing the domestic ones, all remaining DC-8-50s were retired between 1980 and 1983.
The -62 was the last DC-8 type to enter service with Koutei Koku, beign delivered between late 1967 and 1972. The fifteen aircrafts flew the airline longest international routes, like those to Canada, Chile and Argentina. The first route to Europe (London), via-Anchorage and New York, opened in late 1968, Was also operated by a DC-8-62 until 1973. During their years of service, only one was written off, destroyed by fire, after a mishap during maintenance (and without any casualties). The other fourteen got progressively moved to thinner and minor international routes, little by little, as more widebodies replaced them on the most prestigious and busiest ones. Two were retired in 1978. Unlike other carriers which took them into service well into the 90's -like US Delta and United, Koutei Koku never re-engined it's -super62s. Between 1985 and 1989, all remaining airframes were retired, ending 29 years of DC-8 service with the airline.