FedEx plane crashes in Texas - CNN.com Two crew members were taken to a hospital after a FedEx cargo plane crashed on landing Tuesday morning at the Lubbock, Texas, airport, officials said. A damaged FedEx ATR-42 lies beside a runway early Tuesday at the Lubbock, Texas, airport.
The injuries appeared to be minor, said James Loomis, director of Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport. There was a small fire on the plane, the Federal Aviation Administration and FedEx spokeswoman Sandra Munoz said. Munoz said she was not sure about the extent of the damage. The plane is an ATR-42 twin-turboprop aircraft and landed short of the touchdown zone at 4:37 a.m. CT (5:47 ET), Loomis said. Munoz said the plane had been traveling from Fort Worth Alliance Airport and skidded off the runway amid light freezing rain. Neither official could immediately say what caused the accident, and Munoz didn't know why parts of the plane caught fire.
The plane was operated by Empire Airways, which is under contract with FedEx Corp., based in Memphis, Tennessee.
Ntsb Investigating Crash Of Atr-42 Cargo Plane In Texas
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NTSB ADVISORY
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National Transportation Safety Board
Washington, DC 20594
January 28, 2009
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NTSB INVESTIGATING CRASH OF CARGO PLANE IN TEXAS
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The National Transportation Safety Board has dispatched a
team to investigate yesterday's crash of an ATR-42 operated
by Empire Airlines for FedEx. The plane crashed on approach
to Lubbock, Texas. The two crewmembers survived.
At about 5:00 a.m. CST Tuesday, January 27, 2009, Empire
Airlines flight 8284, operating a FedEx-owned ATR-42
(N902FX), crashed 300 feet short of the threshold while on
an Instrument Landing System (ILS) approach to Runway 17 at
Lubbock International Airport, Lubbock, Texas. The plane
was arriving from Fort Worth, Texas. The aircraft was
destroyed by crash forces and a post-impact fire.
Weather at the time was reported as overcast ceiling at 500
feet above ground level, visibility 2 miles with light
freezing drizzle and mist, and wind 020 degrees at 11 knots.
The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder will be
removed from the wreckage and shipped to the NTSB's
laboratories in Washington, D.C.
Senior Air Safety Investigator Leah Yeager is the
Investigator-in-Charge of the NTSB team. Joining the
investigation are representatives from the Federal Aviation
Administration; FedEx; Empire Airlines; the French aviation
accident investigative authority, the BEA; Avions de
Transport Regional (ATR); and Pratt & Whitney Engines.
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NTSB Media Contact: Peter Knudson (202) 314-6100
peter.knudson@ntsb.gov
Hmmm, icing conditions, freezing drizzle, an ATR... That doesn't mix nicely unless you are used to operate an ATR in icing conditions... (even then you are sometimes surprised)
"Looks like they were lucky in having a flat and unobstructed undershoot area."
Someone from Pittsburgh got off a flight in LBB one day and said, "You guys sure did a lot of planning here." "How's that?" "You leveled all the ground out for furture expansion."
It is flat as a pool (billiard) table for 50 miles in any direction from LBB.
Rather makes you wonder if the the fire started before they landed... which would probably explain the landing.
Had something similar happen to me many years ago... freight packet that was smouldering... had been in correctly loaded as it was (very) dangerous goods... managed to land without bending anything though.
A damaged FedEx ATR-42 lies beside a runway early Tuesday at the Lubbock, Texas, airport.
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