FedEx crashes near Tokyo

[Andrew P]

Cargo plane crash lands in Japan (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7958367.stm)

A cargo plane has crash-landed and burst into flames near Tokyo, Japanese media report.

They say the accident happened at the main Narita international airport on Monday morning local time.

There was no immediate information about any casualties on board the Federal Express Corp plane.

[matthew mcdonald]

Cargo Plane Crash in Tokyo Narita Airport
BREAKING NEWS as of 1559PDT 22MAR09

Tokyo Broadcasting Station TBS has posted a video footage at time of the crash. It shows the nose of the plane suddenly pulled up but then hit the ground again, burst into flames.




The crash can bee viewed here. http://news.tbs.co.jp/newseye/tbs_newseye4089545.html

From a distance it looks to be and MD-11 F

[NickN]

Thats a horrific accident. Hard to explain why the nose dipped so suddenly.... it looks like it bounced back up off the ground after the inital dip, would that happen if the aircraft stalled?

It would be hard to imagine any of the crew survived the crash. My heart goes out to their families.

[Bernie P]

Cargo Plane Crash in Tokyo Narita Airport
BREAKING NEWS as of 1559PDT 22MAR09

Tokyo Broadcasting Station TBS has posted a video footage at time of the crash. It shows the nose of the plane suddenly pulled up but then hit the ground again, burst into flames.

The crash can bee viewed here. http://news.tbs.co.jp/newseye/tbs_newseye4089545.html

From a distance it looks to be and MD-11 F

That was a pretty hard bounce... Strong winds is being reported...

[Nigel C]

Hairy scary stuff. Weather looked to be ok too.:eek:

[Sarah C]

Thanks for the link - amazing footage. Strong winds were mentioned in terms of the conditions during the landing.

My thoughts are with all involved - it doesn't look good :(

[NickN]

Where can you look up the current ATIS for Narita?

[Bernie P]

Here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6cMK9LUnzI) is a closer look at it...

[NickN]

That seems to show it hitting the deck and then hopping a few times before flipping. The original video missed that intial impact.

[matthew mcdonald]

The original crash link that I posted has been updated to show the aftermath of the crash with emergency services around the aircraft including the initial impact and the second impact.

[NickN]

Just watching the footage now and the close up of the wreckage. Judging by the way the smoke is being blown away so sharply seems to indicate strong winds.

[Greg McDonald]

Pilot and co-pilot now confirmed dead.

A Narita Airport spokesman said that one of the airport's two runways was closed but could not say if passenger flights would be affected.

Narita is the main international airport for the Japanese capital and NHK said the plane crashed on the main runway.

Japanese media said the plane was a FedEx cargo flight from Guangzhou, China and a FedEx logo was clearly visible on the upturned remains of the aircraft.

[matthew mcdonald]

Aircraft registration is N526FE

[Montague S]

Pilot and co-pilot now confirmed dead.

goes without saying that the ops will be affected, its occurred on the long runway.

[Rhys Xanthis]

RIP to the two pilots :(

I guess we can take some sort of comfort in the fact that it wasn't a fully boarded Passenger flight.

[Mike Scott]

Here is previous video of the A/C involved in todays accident.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJNwDnZlU9k

[Tony G]

Woooohhh. Thats was dramatic footage. Amazing watching a multi tonne aircraft flung over like a kite so close to landing. It is hard to believe it is possible until you see it. RIP to the aircrew and best wishes to the families.

[Grahame Hutchison]

Wow, they really pushed the nose down after the first bounce, or maybe it was the wind. After such a hard touchdown, full power may have been the better choice, but I guess you had to be there.

My last ACARS pickup of this aircraft, N526FE, in Sydney was on the 21/2/2009. Prior to that it visited in October and December last year.

[Kieran Wells]

Wow, they really pushed the nose down after the first bounce, or maybe it was the wind. After such a hard touchdown, full power may have been the better choice, but I guess you had to be there.


Definitely an interesting landing... Wind would have definitely played a part. Interesting that the plane landed up engines up, which you could see from the clip. Will be interesting to see the report on that one

RIP to the Pilots and families..

[Sarah C]

My thoughts go out to the families of the victims - it must be terrible to see that footage.

Despite the events of the day, I think we really forget how safe air travel really is. Given the numbers of take offs and landings, and with all the factors causing accidents, it is amazing how safe air travel is.

[Blake Riley]

such sad news when i heard it, training to be a pilot and hoping one day to fly the MD11 for Fedex I was deeply saddened
RIP to the pilots

[Grahame Hutchison]

Looking at the footage again, although the initial main undercarriage touchdown was heavy, it appears that the nose wheel touchdown was very hard, enough to pitch the nose up sharply and the whole aircraft to become airborne again. At this point it almost looks like they are going to climb out and try again, then the pitch down is quite marked and they touchdown again nose wheel first. I wonder if the cargo moved forward with the initial impact causing the hard nose wheel touchdown and bounce. If this was the case the aircraft would be extremely difficult to control and the events that follow speak for themself. Time will tell.

Tragic for the crew and their families.

[NickN]

Its a shame the aircraft rolled on its side, had that not have happened the crash may have been survivable(sp?).

[Montague S]

MD11 don't like strong winds.

[NickN]

MD11 don't like strong winds.


Which commercial aircraft do like strong winds?

[Gerard M]

I just read in the paper that the plane was carrying flammable liquid/s but they didn't say what sort? Other than the fuel would this explain why it burst into flames so quickly or just added to the intensity of the fire?

[Andrew P]

didnt take long to clean up

[Steve Crook]

This sad incident reminded me of a similar crash by a Mandarin Airlines MD-11 (I think it was) at Chek Lap Kok Airport a few years ago. The area was being lashed by a nearby typhoon and the plane flipped onto its back on landing. Miraculously only about 3 people died in a plane that had a significant passenger load. A friend of mine was a flight attendant on the flight that landed before the MD-11 and witnessed the crash. He said the winds were pretty fierce with the Qantas plane being the last to arrive before the airport was shut due to the weather.

[Blake Riley]

i guess this was the type of winds they had on landing in NRT this MD looks to get blown around quite a bit to,
from the videos i have seen NRT seems to get really strong winds here is a Fedex MD11 landing in NRT on another windy time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt25LlSsYRc
some more windy landings in narita
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKR65GMosI4

[Tony G]

Wow check out the 340. That was a crosswind. Looks like a great spot for photos. Add it to my dream list, will get there one day( actually been there twice, wish I knew it was available). Do you know what end that runway was at Blake.

[NickN]

Those are some hairy landings. Explains alot re: the crash.

[Steve Crook]

I would be interested to know how prone Narita is to strong winds. When I flew there a couple of years ago there were certainly very strong winds as we approached. I love flying and usually feel completely safe, but I have to say it was a rather unsettlibg experience. A colleague of mine recalled when he flew in to Narita that the buffetting that his plane received on approach was so strong that he had to brace his feet against the wall in front of him - and he is a very frequent flyer. I know that Japan is open to typhoons at certain times of the year, but some of these occurances were wel outside of typhoon season.

[Jayden Laing]

RIP to the pilots.

Question? Why wasn't a go around undertaken i wonder? Would have made sense considering the strong winds. I don't mean to be rude in any respect but if I was the pilot, I would have conducted a go around as the footage shows the plane coming down quite quickly. Like to listen to other peoples point of views on it!

[Owen H]

Jayden, heavy jets aren't like light aircraft. They do not respond immediately.

There were strong winds, but we don't know how they affected the aircraft, we were not in the flight deck.

It is very easy to sit and say "I would have gone around", but when you're barrelling along the runway at 300kph, you'll realise its not as easy as it looks. The crew may well have tried to initiate a go around - we'll have to wait and see.

A go around from 20ft can easily contact the runway during the go around, as inertia has the aircraft continue down despite the high thrust.

[Owen H]

It is always possible, and it is further complicated by the LSAS system, but that is something to wait for the report.

And Jayden, I thought I'd add an example of the inertia.

This is a video from a board member of a 767 go around in Sydney. The 767 is a lightweight compared to an MD11, and is a veritable rocketship, and yet it still takes a long time to "get going".

767 Go Around (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7oeItGC69E)

The aircraft flies slightly out of frame, but you'll see the go around is initiated by the 6:48 mark. Compare the height to that at the 6:52 mark.

[Jayden Laing]

Yeh thats understandable but what im trying to get at is, why couldn't they have tried earlier in the approach for a go around. I have seen planes at YSSY glide in to land but from what i saw, it looked to be descending too quickly rather then gliding. IF the plane was coming in too fast or descending to quickly, wouldnt it be best to try a go around earlier in the approach & get yourself set up again. The video in my opinion shows the MD-11 descending too quickly.

[Owen H]

From the video I've seen, the approach doesn't seem unreasonable at all until the bounce... maybe you have seen different footage to me.

I agree that if, earlier on in the approach, the rate of descent is too high you would go around, but I haven't seen any footage that suggests that is the case here.

The FDR will contain all of that data, so we'll wait and see.

[Gerard M]

Have any reports or updates been released about this incident yet? I don't know where to search/look for them?

Gerard