HAARLEM, Netherlands (Kyodo) -- A Japanese parent bereaved by the 1985 Japan Airlines jumbo jet crash called on Tuesday for support for families of air accident victims in their sorrow and attempts to seek the truth, as the U.N. aviation agency explores ways to globally enhance assistance for those most affected.

"I hope to see all-out efforts so that the families will not have to suffer more than once," Kuniko Miyajima, 77, told an event organized by the International Civil Aviation Organization, recalling the loss of her 9-year-old son in the world's deadliest single-aircraft accident and underscoring the need for preparedness in the event of future tragedies.

The Symposium on Assistance to Aircraft Accident Victims and their Families, scheduled for three days from Tuesday in the Netherlands, follows the first-ever such international event organized by ICAO in 2021 on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria.

In addition to national authorities and airline operators, the gathering was attended by relatives of air crash victims worldwide, enabling them to seek global cooperation toward better care and treatment by sharing their experiences and discussing best practices.

"We believe it is essential that we listen to the witness statements of victims and their loved ones as we set out to explore the possibilities of improving support to crash victims and their families," Richard Ossendorp, the Netherlands representative to ICAO, told Kyodo News ahead of the event in Haarlem, a city near Amsterdam.

Japan sent speakers to the symposium for the first time, according to an official of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. A senior official from Japan Airlines Co. also joined in order to explain its efforts to improve safety awareness.

The move comes as ICAO, the aviation standard-setter, has intensified efforts to address family assistance in civil aircraft disasters, with its assembly adopting a resolution in 2022 urging member states to establish legislation, regulations and policies to support victims and their families.

The outcome of the symposium will be reported to the ICAO Council, the agency's 36-member governing body. It will also contribute to an updated resolution at the next ICAO Assembly in 2025, the organizer said.

While the ICAO has said it is "obliging" member states to establish legislation and policies to assist aircraft accident victims and their families, having elevated the issue to a "standard" from "recommended practice" in 2022, the U.N. agency has no enforcement mechanisms, raising questions about its effectiveness.

Under a related ICAO policy and accompanying manual, family assistance includes notification of involvement, victim accounting, travel coordination and timely provision of information on the progress of the accident investigation, as well as addressing immediate financial needs and psychological support.

Miyajima's account echoed the importance of such needs as she spoke during a session to hear the "voice of the victims," along with other representatives linked to the 2008 Spanair plane crash in Madrid and the 2014 downing of a Malaysia Airlines plane in eastern Ukraine that allegedly involved a Russian-made missile.

"There needs to be a system under which victims can obtain information quickly, and equally, after an accident. They must also be able to receive financial and emotional support," she said.

Miyajima said she still recalls the warmth of her son Ken's hand before he boarded JAL Flight 123 alone. The Boeing 747 crashed northwest of Tokyo on Aug. 12, 1985, killing all but four of the 524 crew members and passengers.

It was only Ken's right hand and fragments of his body that were later returned to the family.

She also said accident investigation and the provision of victim support should both start in the immediate aftermath without delay, as it is often the earnest desire of bereaved families to know how their loved ones died, in hopes of finding out the cause and preventing something similar from happening again.

"Professionalism and independence of accident investigation bodies must be improved to create more public trust," she said.

The Japanese government's official investigation report, released in 1987, blamed the accident on faulty repairs conducted by Boeing Co. on the plane's rear pressure bulkhead that JAL could not detect in subsequent inspections.

The probe, however, did not fully satisfy the victims' families, especially because Boeing workers did not cooperate in the investigation amid fears that the process could potentially result in them being criminally prosecuted in Japan.

Miyajima, meanwhile, brought attention to the significance of the bereaved families' association, which was launched about four months after the accident for mutual support and to campaign for safer skies.

Noting that "grief never recedes," Miyajima, who has led the association named the 8.12 liaison group, said, "Even after 39 years, the victims are still connected with each other, like family. And today, I am very happy to connect with so many victims across the world."

(By Miya Tanaka)