Heading over the Izu Peninsula at 6:26 p.m., the aircraft turned away from the Pacific Ocean, and back towards the shore; At 6:31:02 p.m., Tokyo Control asked the crew if they could descend, and Captain Takahama replied that they were now descending, and stated that the aircraft's altitude was 24,000 feet after Tokyo Control requested their altitude. Captain Takahama also declined Tokyo Control's suggestion to divert to Nagoya Airport 72 miles away, instead preferring to land at Haneda, which had the facilities to handle the 747. However, the flight data recorder shows that the flight did not descend, but was instead rising and falling uncontrollably. Hydraulic fluid completely drained away through the rupture. With the total loss of hydraulic control and non-functional control surfaces, the aircraft began up and down oscillations in phugoid cycles lasting about 90 seconds each, during which the aircraft's air speed decreased as it climbed, then increased as it fell. The rise in air speed increased the lift over the wings, which resulted in the aircraft climbing and slowing down, then descending and gaining speed again. The loss of the vertical stabilizer and the rudder removed the only means to dampen yaw, and the aircraft lost virtually all meaningful yaw stability. Almost immediately after separation of the stabilizer, the aircraft began to exhibit Dutch roll, simultaneously yawing right and banking right, before yawing back left and banking left. At some points during the flight, the banking motion became very profound, with the banks in large arcs of approximately 50° back and forth in cycles of 12 seconds.