FedEx MD-10 on fire at Fort Lauderdale airport

[mivens]

Originally Posted by Huck

As to saving the bags... there was only one window up front that was usable, and there were 6 or 7 people aboard... it takes time to go down the strap, so a line formed waiting to go. The guys at the end of the line were just standing there so they threw the baggage out the open door. I'm not sure what else they were supposed to be doing.....

Although that was the testimony, the NTSB disputed that after reviewing the evacuation video footage.

...the crewmembers did not evacuate the airplane in an uninterrupted flow. Although the captain and cockpit jumpseat nonrevenue pilot evacuated relatively quickly, the videotape showed delays between subsequent evacuating crewmembers. During these delays, the escape ropes were available but unused, and several pieces of baggage were thrown from the airplane. The elapsed time between successive crewmembers exiting the airplane was as much as 63 seconds....

It is evident that the delays were the result of the offloading of crewmembers personal bags and not because they were waiting for other crewmembers to exit or had difficulty using the cockpit egress system.

[Huck]

I would love to take those NTSB members, put them atop a 20-foot platform, give them a two-inch-wide nylon strap (that has been slimed by the residue of skin and blood), and see how long it takes them to screw up the courage to jump. These are not firefighters. This maneuver is not practiced in training - we practice going through the window but it is sitting at floor level. The slides are supposed to work.

[A0283]

2016 Fedex crash final report

https://go.usa.gov/xUu8d

WASHINGTON (Aug. 23, 2018) — The landing gear collapse on a FedEx MD-10-10F, wide-body cargo jet was caused by corrosion that led to fatigue cracking, according to an NTSB report released Thursday.

[Airbubba]

Originally Posted by A0283

https://go.usa.gov/xUu8d

WASHINGTON (Aug. 23, 2018) — The landing gear collapse on a FedEx MD-10-10F, wide-body cargo jet was caused by corrosion that led to fatigue cracking, according to an NTSB report released Thursday.

I believe that since 1996 FedEx has now had seven MD/DC-10/11 hull losses:

DC-10: SWF
MD-10: MEM (2), FLL
MD-11: EWR, SFS, NRT

[atakacs]

Originally Posted by A0283

https://go.usa.gov/xUu8d

WASHINGTON (Aug. 23, 2018) — The landing gear collapse on a FedEx MD-10-10F, wide-body cargo jet was caused by corrosion that led to fatigue cracking, according to an NTSB report released Thursday.

I still have to make an attentive read of the report but it does not sound good to FedEx maintenance.

[Sailvi767]

Certainly contradicts all the hard landing reports.

[lomapaseo]

Originally Posted by Sailvi767

Certainly contradicts all the hard landing reports.

I don't see it that way, based on this report alone. Each incident should stand by itself and address lessons learned accordingly

[Airbubba]

Originally Posted by lomapaseo

I don't see it that way, based on this report alone. Each incident should stand by itself and address lessons learned accordingly

Here's a rundown on some of the earlier FedEx incidents and crashes from FedEx Chief Pilot Jack Lewis' self described 'rant' to FDX captains in 2006:

When it comes to piloting itself, we have an ugly record. The NTSB isn't real impressed with us. Here's the pilot-error type mishaps /accidents from 1997-present. All are landing accidents except for one go-around and one takeoff. These assessments are my own opinion, based on info I have...

Newark.....MD-11.pilot-error.....strike damage.....good visibility, contaminated runway

Manila....A300...pilot-error....$16 million damage..... good visibility, wet runway

Subic Bay....MD11 .pilot-error....strike damage...... good visibility

Tallahassee...B727...pilot-error...strike damage..... good visibility

Memphis...MD10..pilot-error...strike damage..... ...good visibility, gusty crosswind

El Paso...A300...pilot-error...$2 million damage.....good visibility

Memphis...MD11..pilot-error..$.5 million damage....good visibility, go around

Ft Lauderdale..A300...pilot-error..$1.5 million damage....good visibility

Subic Bay....MD11.initial look is pilot-error..$10.5 million damage(yow!)..good visibility, tailwind

$170+million in pilot-error damage.Yikes!!!!! At least you DC10 Captains seem to have figured out this landing thing.......The common thread in all these accidents besides pilot-error and good visibility, is that they were totally preventable by the Captain if:

1) he had maintained good SA when he was PF and if
2) he had looked at the instrumentation below 400' when he was PM. This is classic Threat & Error Management (TEM)...or lack thereof.

Additionally, we have had wheels in the mud, aircraft off the side of the runway on a rejected takeoff, altitude busts, runway incursions, early descents below MDA with EPGWS warnings, one landing on the wrong runway, one at the wrong airport, another approach to the wrong airport, etc., etc., etc,. It may seem like we don't have much going on, but as you can see, that's not the case.

https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/84113-post1.html

In the dozen years since Captain Lewis' email I think FedEx has had only a couple of hull losses, NRT and FLL, a better record for them I suppose. Still, it would be hard for me to imagine a U.S. passenger airline of any size with a similar accident record over the last two decades staying in business.