FedEx MD-11 crash at NRT

[phkza]

Horrible crash at Narita this evening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6cMK9LUnzI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[K-9]

Well that's a pretty bumpy landing....

Any news about the crew ?

[flying_kiwi]

Any news about the crew ?

Fedex has released a statement that unfortunately both crew members have been killed in the accident.
Link

Aircraft involved is reported to be the N526FE operating as FX80 from CAN to NRT.

Regards,
Yorden

[skycruiser]

That's indeed a bumpy landing. Runway 34L used.
This runway site is especially known for windshear and gusty final approach, due the buildings in the vicinity and the elevation in terrain.
As far as I can judge from the video (CCTV from Observation Deck Terminal 1), the wind played a major role in this crash.

2 flightcrew member did not survive this accident.

Rgds
Eric

[Derice]

Anything the pilots could have done to prevent the crash?
Looks to me they didn't have any opportunity for correcting actions on their part.

Looks to me like:
Normal touchdown, then the wind forced the plane back in the air, windshear pushed the left wing down (right wing up) with this unfortunate ending...

[tva2]

newscast on Fuji TV

http://fnn.fujitv.co.jp/news/headlines/ ... 51674.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Video Credit & Copyright (c) 2009 Fujitv / Reuters Ltd.

browser character encoding should be set on Japanese Shift_JIS

[flying_kiwi]

Anything the pilots could have done to prevent the crash?
Looks to me they didn't have any opportunity for correcting actions on their part.

Looks to me like:
Normal touchdown, then the wind forced the plane back in the air, windshear pushed the left wing down (right wing up) with this unfortunate ending...

Hard to say really.

At first glance, I'd say it was a heavy landing (possibly due to winds, see METAR below), followed by a bounce, another heavy touchdown at which point the left main gear collapsed, the left wing partially detached (see how the wing is right side up next to the upsidedown wreckage), and the aircraft rolled over onto its back.

The aircraft ending on its back seems to happen quite often in MD-11 accidents (FedEx Newark, China Airline/Mandarin Hong Kong).

METAR 222200Z 31026G40KT 9999 FEW020 12/M02 Q1001 NOSIG (Accident occured approx. 2150UTC)

Regards,
Yorden

[skycruiser]

The aircraft ending on its back seems to happen quite often in MD-11 accidents (FedEx Newark, China Airline/Mandarin Hong Kong).

Indeed, since it's in landing phase of flight, and most weight is in the tail (this is one of the characteristics of the MD11).

Regarding the weather. The OTHER runway (34R) reported moderate turbulence by B767-300 on short finals. The MD11 landed on 34L, and despite the bigger aircraft, which might experience less turbulence, the winds might have became stronger due to the buildings in the close vicinity of the runway.

It looks a bit like the Martinair DC-10 crash at FAO.

btw, KLM and JAL from Tokyo today operate normally. JAL is delayed by about 30 minutes only.
Rgds
Eric

[patrick@tediek.com]

Anything the pilots could have done to prevent the crash?
Looks to me they didn't have any opportunity for correcting actions on their part.

Looks to me like:
Normal touchdown, then the wind forced the plane back in the air, windshear pushed the left wing down (right wing up) with this unfortunate ending...

only thing to a possible resque, full power and try to get out of there, but most likely that takes to long to get full power on the engines and speed to depart. Seems the plane was a playing ball of the wind.

Does anybody now the max xwind factor of the md11?

[flying_kiwi]

Does anybody now the max xwind factor of the md11?

Not sure what the limit is, but based on the METAR, gusts of 40 knots coming from 30 degrees off runway heading will give a crosswind component of about 20 knots. I can't imagine that the limit for the MD-11 is lower than that.
I'd suspect that the wind gusts had more of an effect than the actual wind speed.

Regards,
Yorden

[Delta12]

Thats a real sad accident...

May the crew rest in peace..

Also pretty freaky also to see MD11s turning on their back when such accidents happen. And to see how flip over with their belly up. (see also other crashes FedEx Mandarin etc)

This really has to do something with the design of the tail vs the skill of the pilots.
(Lots of articles on the Internet about the MD11 design)

What I've heard and read on the Internet the MD11 is notoriously know for its instability during the final part of landing and the first seconds after takeoff because of the engine in tail design. A friend of mine flying the MD once described the aircraft handling during landing as a
pregnant swan and that it will try to bite your fingers you any moment when hen not paying attention.

Nevertheless,
He and I are still thinking its a great aircraft with lots of goods but also a dark side that should never be forgotten.

[Delta12]

Eric

Max Rolling T/O Land Xwind 31 Kts
Max Static T/O 23Kts
Max T/O Land Tail Wind 10 Kts

Wind Additive: Greater of 5 kts, ½ Steady State Wind > 20 Kts, All the Gust Factor… Wind Additive not to exceed 20 Kts.


Source: MD-11.org

[tva2]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOnL2VpORps" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

better overview.

Copyright (c) 2009 Youtube

[patrick@tediek.com]

its very very sad.

here are some more pictures of the accident

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World- ... t%2C_Japan" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Thermal]

Very very sad.

31026G40KT

Very hard to say what caused this. If this wás (horizontal) windshear the wind could have come from any direction. So the 310 degrees doesn't mean anything in that case.

Let's wait and see what the investigators find.