Significant side loading caused damage to main gear which in turn caused a tire failure. There may be wing spar involvement, if so a sad end for 701.
I flew the aircraft for Gemini.

according to univision.com (I did a basic translation)

US freighter plane suffers minos accident in Montevideo

20th of october, 2009 02:50pm ET
Montevideo, 20 oct 2009 (AFP)
A freighter plane of US freighter enterprise Centurion Cargo suffered this tuesday a "minor accident" in Carrasco airport, Montevideo´s main airport and its five crew resulted harmless , told to AFP oficials sources.

"It was a minor accident, it happened at 0300 in the morning (0500GMT), while it was landing due to the damage of the main wheel of the landing gear" said the spokeperson of the Air Force (FAU), Col. Mariano Rodrigo.

The plane "is a tri'jet MD11...."

The FAU spokeperson said that the plane is " at the moment parked in a taxiway until the causes of accident can be determined, to evaluate the damages and see if it is necessary any maintenance works"




Avión de carga de EEUU sufre accidente menor en Montevideo


20 de Octubre de 2009, 02:50pm ET
MONTEVIDEO, 20 Oct 2009 (AFP) -
Un avión de carga de la empresa estadounidense Centurion Cargo sufrió este martes un "accidente menor" en el aeropuerto de Carrasco, que sirve a Montevideo, y sus cinco tripulantes resultaron ilesos, dijeron a la AFP fuentes oficiales.

"Fue un accidente menor, ocurrido a las 03H00 de la mañana (05H00 GMT), cuando aterrizaba, debido a la rotura de la rueda principal del tren de aterrizaje", dijo el vocero de la Fuerza Aérea (FAU), coronel Mariano Rodrigo.

El aparato "es un trirreactor MD11 de la empresa Centurion Cargo de bandera estadounidense, que opera semanalmente en Montevideo", agregó Rodrigo, quien indicó que "la tripulación de cinco miembros resultó ilesa".

El vocero de la FAU dijo que el avión se encuentra "por el momento en una calle de rodaje del aeropuerto hasta que se determinen las causas, evaluar los daños y ver si debe realizarse mantenimiento".

yow/jb


Mate

Low visibility ... Non-accurate RVR.. foggy..

I´ve got a friend who has a friend... eventually.. I saw PIC´s.. Looks like .. sad to say it was her last flight.

http://i767.photobucket.com/albums/xx318/Turbofan777/md11.jpg

http://i767.photobucket.com/albums/xx318/Turbofan777/DSC09547.jpg

http://i767.photobucket.com/albums/xx318/Turbofan777/108027.jpg

Taxiing off the runway didn't help....

Is this aircraft on Centurion's ops spec? I heard they were operating it, WOA has 2,3 and 4.

Also appears that the strut took the brunt of the damage, NDT will tell but the absence of leaking fuel is a great sign for this aircraft. Even if there is structural damage, it is certainly not beyond repair.

Thanks for the great pics turbofan.

Looks like hard landing with a some lateral slip. Most likely blew a tire or two in the process. But, she is still a fine looking bird even, though looking a bit sorry for herself!!! Yep, you certainly have to be on top of things to fly this one!!!;)

http://avherald.com/img/centurion_md...o_091020_1.jpg

Like this picture the most, really shows how the gear strut bent, just hope the fluid on the grund is 5606. (likely or you would probably see fire trucks around)

I used to make runs into Montevideo often ACMI in an MD-11 for Staff and I think a few times for Lan cargo, my biggest worry used to be a birdstrike, the area may as well be called a habitat. Great catering as well, they would allways come out of the terminal with delicious hot pasta dishes.

Actually, that is a happy ending for an MD-11, the more common ending is rather unpleasant as FEDEX has found out...several times..

Local gossip is, that a patch of fog obscured the runway so that the crew never saw the runway, but never initiated a go-around and touched down without flare."

If that is the case, then one can hardly blame the plane or its design :ugh: Probably more than 200 t smashed with > 800 ft/m onto the RW. I say: Tough Bird. But that won't stop the experts here from bashing anyway :rolleyes:

Looks like the torque link that connects the truck to the strut snapped. My guess is not soo much a side load as much as a hard landing with the #7 tire failure starting the process of damage to the torque links and gear.

The skid mark seems to support my theory. You can sort of make out exactly where the tire blew if you look closely.

"Actually, that is a happy ending for an MD-11, the more common ending is rather unpleasant as FEDEX has found out...several times.."

From the looks of it, I'm surprised it wasn't a hard enough landing to break off the wing and flip it over. I would imagine there will be significant damages found along the wing attach points. It will most likely be a total, and the end of 701. :ugh:

Actually, that is a happy ending for an MD-11
cf Upside down at HK.
I'd a rather arrogant FE who used to complain if I cornered at >10kn - I had to explain the difference between FE PPL and real pilot to him - wonder what he'd have thought of this :}

If the damage was as serious as you think it is there would be significant fuel leakage.

Could have been the combination between a defect in a tire and a hard landing.

Love the fact they put the chocks in....can't see it rolling away somehow

Anyone know who previously operated this aircraft, any damage history, prior incidents?

It will most likely be a total, and the end of 701.

Repairable, I'm sure, but financially worth it, I doubt. Another one bites the dust.

GAC, VARIG was the owner from the factory cn 48434/476 (http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?cnsearch=48434/476&distinct_entry=true) .

This is no bug smasher, we are talking about a 150million dollar (ballpark hull) I understood Boeing was selling UPS the aircraft for 180 mill.

I think the right gear oleo remained in its trunions and the oleo broke - huge lateral loads would do this. Here's a high-contrast Photoshop'd detail of one of the photos from the front. A large crack can be seen just above the drag link attach point on the oleo:

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk76/batcave777/RightOleo.jpg

May be just a gear change.


If it was a huge lateral load why was it not the #4 or #8 tire to blow? I still maintain that the hard landing, blown #7 busted torque link resulted in the strut to load in the manner it snapped.

Understand Mud, after many thousands of hours driving the beast, I've seen a few things, not all of 'em pretty. Judging from the pics, would not be surprised if the wing spar has been subjected to significant axial deformation, transmitted through the main gear attach lugs.

Landing technique bears mention here, skills we all must develop through practice, training and experience. Like any other aeroplane, a basic, aircraft-specific handling knowledge is paramount, arguably the sole prerequisite for survival as a professional pilot. Perhaps the seniority system has failed us here?

NDT down time is now in order for this ship. Parting out the airplane may make more financial sense to the insurers. Engines, avionics, various bits and expensive pieces, I guess the bean counters are in charge now.

Sad end, hopefully not, to a magnificent airplane.

significant axial deformation, transmitted through the main gear attach lugs.

This damage would surely create signifant fuel leakage as was not evident from the pictures.

The wing skins are more tolerant than the spars especially the spar caps. If there was wing damage it would surely be indicated by fuel leakage especially at the "beavertail' area or the trunion area (close together). this area takes the most strain between the gear and engine also the seperation between the #2 and #3 fuel tanks areas.

I maintain my optomistic position that the gear took the brunt of the damage, wish I could bet you a beer over it!

Man about 13 years ago I tore apart a left wing of a 707!!! for a spar cap replacement after a hard landing, 3 months later did the right wing as the crew was probably out of practice.... this was Challeng Air Cargo. did not realize up untill now but CENTURION is what is left of CAC after UPS bought their operation and routes leaving them with some junky but rare DC-10-40's to start back up with. Man I love the JT-9 but the -50's and 70's were a pain in the arse.

Poor SOB's got a poor start operating the MD-11, probably got the ex GAC pilots's that did not cut the mustard for World Airways to fly 2,3 and 4...

Mud,
The last line of your post really was not necessary.
WW

Why?

They obviously landed in conditions not for-casted but below minima. Poor judgment. Besides Ezeiza is just 30 minutes away, not sure of the conditions there or if they considered it. Weather in that region is usually benign.

No worries, me thinks this bird will fly again and eventually be restored to her catIIIb glory soon. Smart but not legal (assuming Centurion had not completed the programme) would to allow her to auto land "3A" in those conditions as they committed to land anyways. Do not know if the ILS was up to the task for the rwy. These are good questions.

Never forget my first true 3B into SCL, the screens were Grey, observing the terrain mapping and visualizing our position from the countless vfr approaches we made before, watching the RA count down. First sign was the rabbit as the threshold quickly approached. Hard to trust a machine with your life... Have to respect the technology man has created, this is the conflict... Man V/S machine.

probably got the ex GAC pilots's that did not cut the mustard for World

hmmm... No ex-GAC pilots involved. As long as you are throwing dirt around. Unlike World. GAC never sent anybody to the hospital after a landing......


Accident: World Airways DC10 at Baltimore on May 6th 2009, blew nose gear tyre (http://avherald.com/h?article=4193c587)

Accident: Centurion MD11 at Montevideo on Oct 20th 2009, right main gear damage (http://avherald.com/h?article=421928fc&opt=0)

Fog,

I don't know if Muduckace has anything to do with World or not but you should know we have a lot of ex-GAC guys here (and a few on furlough from here waiting to come back being supported by our pilot group).

What Muduckace posted shows a complete lack of class (I could use other descriptions but I think they would be censored) but equally your reply is, for want of a better term, classless and not what I would have expected from your previous postings.

In future you may both want to think before posting!:=

WorldDC10

My apologies. It hit a nerve.

Fog,

World in your cited incident had a hard landing. A nose gear tire blew, tires blow all the time. My main point in experience is that world had been in operation for about 65 years and been operating MD-11's since they were first built, Hell N280 was a test tube.

Why only crew to the hospital (no injuries), suspect cabin crew not strapped in or just practice just incase they wanted to file for Workers Comp if they developed future problems?

The fact is, centurion only operating 1 MD-11 is at a loss for experience and their track record for crashing aircraft compared to the time they have been operating is much worse than world's or GAC's. I noticed a significant difference in the proficiency between WOA and GAC pilots, at the time GAC had just started operating them. No disrespect just an obvious factor ---lack of experience operating a demanding aircraft.

Bottom line is the centurion crew screwed up by flying below minimums if they were reported to them prior to landing. This resulted in a hard landing.. The reports will tell. For now rumor and speculation is why we are all here, no?

I think the only reason the gear failed was a blown #7 tire on the hard landing, maybe the tire was defective maybe pressure was not correct. The rest of the damage was a result of this. Have a drink, calm your nerves champ.

World DC-10.. I never claimed to have class, I am a self righteous jerk. Get back to work unless you have anything constructive to say other than playing nursemaid.

Yes a very happy ending. Usually the next abnormal list to read during this sort of event is the dreaded
"Wing Off Light Illuminated" :eek:

Muduckace

I think the first sentence of the last paragraph of your last post is an appropriate statement...

"we have a lot of ex-GAC guys here (and a few on furlough from here waiting to come back being supported by our pilot group)"

I pretty sure there are only 4 Gemini guy's left at World with no sings of recall.

Latest news on this subject:
The aircraft finally got airborne on Dec 14th. Departed to SCL for major repairs.

A photograph of this MD11 while still in MVD was posted on A.net:

Photos: McDonnell Douglas MD-11(F) Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Centurion-Air-Cargo/McDonnell-Douglas-MD-11(F)/1625389/L/)

i am pretty sure this plane returned to mvd today

Weather in that region is usually benign.

Guess you don't have much experience flying in S.A. then. Weather at Buenos Aires or Montevideo get bad pretty fast.

What's the story on the three DC 10s parked at SFB?

Guess you don't have much experience flying in S.A. then. Weather at Buenos Aires or Montevideo get bad pretty fast.

Weather was not a factor concerning this incident.

What did surprise me, on one of the pictures, you could see a very straight rubber line on the concrete from the tire.

Maybe there was just a anti-skid problem.

That has happened with other MD11 too and caused tire bursts and damage too other aircraft parts as well.

Just a thought...

Had a conversation with a former Gemini pilot who flew this bird previously and he was of the opinion that corrusion played a significant factor in this incident.

Guess you don't have much experience flying in S.A. then. Weather at Buenos Aires or Montevideo get bad pretty fast

Don't want to get baited into a worthless rant but you are full of shit. MVD and EZE are normally nothing more than cloudy. SCL gets socked in with fog, VCP and paraguay you have a good chance of dodging some bumpers and Manaus is just about allways a bumpy ride. Lima is under a layer of clouds half of the year and the rest of the high altitude airports throughout columbia and equador are hit or miss.

And to the statement that the hard landing was not weather related, the official report is clear to state that they flew unexpectantly into below minima conditions that crept over the field, probably got a bit disoriented and let 701 get ahead of them. Don't know what minimums the aircraft was currently allowed to fly into but if not to divert a good decision would have been to allow the aircraft to do it's job, then again they had not briefed for a cat 3 approach and I am pretty sure I heard the runway they were landing on was not protected, could have probably coupled an approach down to DH before landing in VFR or diverting.

Heard from a person that the damage is not significant, if they could get a ferry permit to SCL with a new gear installed it can't be a big deal like I have been sayng all along.

MUD

corrusion ??? Did you mean corrosion? If so I really think you pilot buddy is just sticking up for his buds, not to say that these aircraft have had the highest level of inspection and corrosion preventative measures taken.

I don't see what corrosion has to do with a gear taking enough stress to crack where it did, landing gears do not crack in the area this gear failed, usually mild corrosion in areas where water can migrate like bushed lugs etc.

No fog at BUE !!! :D More than once had to run off to Cordoba due to fog!!!!
And agreed, corrosion, hardley likely.

I would argue that ol' 701 went above and beyond the call of duty. Took a lick hard enough to do that kind of damage, and then survived being taxiied a hundred yards off the runway.

Don't want to get baited into a worthless rant but you are full of shit. MVD and EZE are normally nothing more than cloudy. SCL gets socked in with fog, VCP and paraguay you have a good chance of dodging some bumpers and Manaus is just about allways a bumpy ride.hehe... thanks for proving my point, that you don't have much experience flying in S.A. And I'll leave it here so we don't get way to off topic (considering that weather probably didn't have much to do with this accident)

(considering that weather probably didn't have much to do with this accident)

Man if I did not have to spell it out to you it was not weather related it was pilot related, minimums are minimums.... Not as a result of the influence of weather as in shears/updrafts/downdrafts just daft. Poor decision making, I can find other ways to say it if you wish.

I hoped to make a distinction between visibility and real weather influences on the aircraft.

MPH, I did not state that fog does not happen at EZE or MVD, I have just not had much experience of it in the region in the 5 short years I operated in the area.

EZE was a funny airport to fly into, no traffic at all and they often wanted to put us in a holding pattern for no reason at all. They did though cater kick ass sandwiches, just like mom used to cut the crust off of but with fine lunch meats.

Largest threat at MVD was that it is like a bird sanctuary, hell even EZE. I Did a walkaround on a old Tower Classic in Miami from EZE, found 1/3rd of the fanblades missing on #3 engine, the inbound crew felt a mild vibration at T/O thrust but it went away after they retarded to climb thrust, have to love those old JT9's. Sure they sucked fuel and oil but those suckers were tough.

Previous threads have hinted that a stress fracture may have been a result of corrosion. Yep, seen it quite a few times, usually busts the truck beam though. Heat, poor application of CPC, water ingress etc. Boeing ask you to borescope the grease galleries.

What I have also seen though, is a stress fracture as a result of a surface nick that was a consequence of having made contact with maintenance stands. Similar result to what happened here, but not an MD11. It just needs a ding of a few thou in the outer oleo and one cross-wind heavy landing - bingo.

Glad she got back in the air.

Previous threads have hinted that a stress fracture may have been a result of corrosion. Yep, seen it quite a few times, usually busts the truck beam though. Heat, poor application of CPC, water ingress etc. Boeing ask you to borescope the grease galleries.


The only application of CPC products that I have experienced are to A300-600 gear attach lugs, driven probably by a service bullitin that we perform as a routine task (DVI and protection). CPC products are only effective in external uses for a short period of time. I have never heard of this application on a MD-11 gear. I would be interested to hear of the failures you have seen.

Looking at the pictures of the gear, the appear to reveal a sideload stress in the weakest part of the strut below the over-center linkage. I just have a hard time wrapping my mind arround corrosion as an issue. The strut has a hard coat of paint and the dual oleo is full of oil. A truck taking a strike would sound more reasonable and they are sometimes covered with a rubber like material to prevent dings, but this is not the case here.

For info, N701GC was repaired by a Boeing RAMS team and is now flying again (with Centurion Air Cargo):ok:

The first MD11 delivery was 48401 - 10-Jan-1990 - FEDEX
Aircraft N280 (N280UP?) was 48634 delivered May-1997 - UPS
WOA did not operate the aircraft till long after the first delivery.

Please, carry on.

"Aircraft N280 (N280UP?) was 48634 delivered May-1997 - UPS"

He was referring to N280WA, which was in fact a testing airframe and WOA took delivery of it in the very early 90s.

Maybe 701 is up and running again still, it will be interesting to kow what happened?

The first dilevery of an MD-11 was to Finnair on December 12th 1990, FedEx recieved the first -F later that year. WrldWide was kind enough to clarify N280WA.

http://jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=6736405&nseq=0


link if it does not come out


JetPhotos.Net Photo » N701GC (CN: 48434) Centurion Air Cargo McDonnell Douglas MD-11(F) by Fdo. 'Gatto' Olivares M. (http://jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=6736405&nseq=0)

scratch and sniff brother...

Your pic is great showing that rmlg taking a hard load, hey most people are right handed???

having a second loook those idiots had the rmlg in the dirt!!

seems to me whole gear is in the dirt.
And the rmlg is about to knock down a taxy marker

Relax chaps -- just the effect of the zoom lens.

They're simply rounding the bend to line up on 17R:

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n385/motidog/SCL-17R-01.jpg


Just like everyone else does:

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n385/motidog/SCL-17R-02.jpg

Like I said - Mr Boeing's finest but definitely not MDC - stress corrosion caused by poor CPC.:ooh:

http://www.rnf.is/media/skyrslur/2001/M-04001_AIG-09,_flugatvik_TF-FIJ_a_Kastrupflugvellii.pdf

Still looking for the gland nut flange failure - dunno if anybodys still got a photo.......If I find it I'll put it in Tech Log.

Diesel

muduckace

World's N280WA (48458) was built in 24/09/1992 - current operator Fedex.

(48401) was built 10/Jan/1990 delivered to Fedex :ugh:

I was with World Airways for quite some time
and lo! I was also with Centurion........ Just popped in to say hello!

A truck beam failure sounds completely logical to be a result of corrosion given it has an internal chamber that could hold moisture. I was surprised to read that the failure happened while the aircraft was being loaded and not on tuchdown, could have been a catastrophy.

That was interesting, thanks

As far as the dc-10/md-11 gland nut, there is a S/B out there that is probably pretty easy to find. Modifications applied are usually indicated by the gland nut being yellow in color. I believe there are some other gear out there with the same issue.Worst case scenario with a gland nut failure is the gear spewing all that 5606 on the ground and a rough ride to the gate.

Is there something in common between Centurion, Gemini and Cielos??

Gemini used to have an MD11 painted in Cielos colors....

... spewing all that 5606

Say what...is 5606 really used, or, Skydrol 500?

Yes, to my knowledge all MD products still used 5606 in the gear. I remember many 742's with skydrol in the strut, not familiar with other aircraft that also use skydrol.

World also had N276WA in Celos colors with Petete on the nose.

Mil 5606 (old DTD 585) used in gear oleos. Not so painful as Skydrol when you forget to wash your hands either!:ooh:

5606 has something like 17 different detergents, and is great for cleaning the real grime off your hands. ATF, Automatic Transmission Fluid, is just the same, only different.

Nike Hercules missile launchers, which were made by Douglas, used a pair of DC-6 landing gear actuators with Mil-h-5606 fluid.

GB