Plane dives 1900m after pilot presses wrong button

A Japanese plane narrowly avoided disaster earlier this month when it plunged over the Pacific, almost turning upside down, the transport ministry told newswire AFP on Wednesday.

The All Nippon Flight, carrying 117 passengers and crew, dived 1900m in 30 seconds during the incident off the southern Shizuoka district on September 6.

The manoeuvre happened when the co-pilot, in trying to unlock the cockpit door for the captain who was returning from the toilet, mistook a command button for the cockpit door lock switch nearby, AFP reported.

The plane, which took off from Naha on Okinawa island in the south, later managed to touch down at Tokyo's Haneda airport safely. Two crew members were slightly injured, while four passengers reported health problems following the incident.