FedEx Plane Crash At Tokyo Airport Captured On Live TV (VIDEO)

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In a gruesome scene captured on shocking video, a FedEx cargo plane ran off a runway and burst into flames, killing two crew members, on Monday morning. According to reports on CNN and Fox News, the accident was captured on live TV in Japan.

According to CNN:

Images from Tokyo's Narita airport showed the scene from the cargo plane bursting into flames.

Strong winds may have played a role in the crash, said Masaru Fujisaki, an airport official. The status of the pilot and co-pilot was not immediately known.

Video from the landing showed the plane bouncing at least twice on the runway before bursting into flames. The fire destroyed the aircraft.

Reuters reports:

"We have information that strong winds caused the plane to divert from the runway," a Narita Airport spokeswoman said, adding the plane had been on a FedEx cargo flight from Guangzhou, China.

The FedEx plane landed hard, tipped onto its left wing and burst into flames, video of the crash on public broadcaster NHK showed.

A bright orange fireball and black billowing smoke engulfed the plane as it flipped and skidded off the runway.

Comments

[Tracey Calland]

I know the mechanics at FedEx take their jobs seriously and go above and beyond to get planes repaired in a timely manner and back on line.

[SwingingFromCenter]

There's a reason they're called "Douglas Death Tubes".

[Destin]

This video is too short to make any kind of hard analysis. The plane is already landing when the video starts. In my opinion, it was a routine landing, smooth and solid strip of smoke from the main gears which is normal on a smooth landing. Now, the nose seemed to come down hard and immediately the nose lifted back up. That itself looked pretty unusual, as if the pilot wanted to take the plane back off. But why? He was already on the ground, you don't abort a landing after all 3 sets of gear are on the runway. What you would do is let the spoilers and thrust reversers do their job. I have never seen a big jet like this "porpoise" down the runway. It's pretty common to see in small piston aircraft, such as little Cessna 182's and such. Not saying it's impossible for a big jet to do it, just that I've never seen it. And I can't say that the plane stalled on the takeoff attempt since the nose went right back down. It's almost like the pilot was overcontrolling or something. But with automated landing systems on those big jets, you can literally recline back and catch a nap and wake up parked at the terminal with jetway hooked up already. I don't see how wind could have been a factor in this crash unless they got a very severe tailwind gust of say, 50+mph.

[mathme]

Isn't that the essence of wind sheer? Wind shifting suddenly from head to tail causing a stall? That's how I've understood it, anyway-- a downdraft that then disperses in all directions-- so a head wind until you pass through the down draft then it's a strong tailwind. I almost wondered, watching the film, if the headwind suddenly picked up unexpectedly causing too much lift, the pilot or the automated system tried to fight it... I don't know... it sure is strange. Very sad that the crew were killed. :(

[Destin]

Yes, I suppose wind sheer could have been the culprit. I just wish there was more footage at the beginning of the tape showing the plane with a longer run on the final approach. Hard to tell what happened because the plane could have been behaving funny during final that we can't see. And I see no reason for the nose of the plane to apparently slam down like that after what looked to be a smooth landing, then bounce right back up and plane takes off. If they had the landing systems working and deployed, which would be spoilers and thrust reversers and ABS, I don't think there's any way that the plane could have gotten off the ground even if the pilot tried.

I realize the newer updated story talks about their being a 45+ mph tailwind. But that won't get a plane off the ground. Even if he had deliberately wanted to abort the landing and go around, he'd have needed quite alot more runway to even get the nose off the ground with that strong of a tailwind. Aerodynamic lift doesn't work in reverse.

[planetjeffy]

The pilot was probably compensating for wind sheer. Unfortunately, the wind sheer stopped, which caused the nose of the plane to slam down, which started the uncontrollable undulations. When these things happen close to the ground, you are just relying on blind luck.

[airsafe]

This recent FedEx Express crash is only one of several tail strike or bounced landing MD-11 accidents they have had over the years. This is also the third time that FedEx has lost an MD-11, all in landing accidents, but this is the first time that an MD-11 crew member has been killed. Many of these details, including a video summary of this accident and details of previous FedEx crashes, are available at AirSafe.com's FedEx page at http://fedex.airsafe.org.

[11Bush]

Almost all of FedEx's cargo is carried in containers which are mechanically locked to the floor of the aircraft. Got any more half-baked theories?

[Jymac]

This accident was not caused by wind shear if everyone can please watch the video again and take note of the first bounce which was a direct result of a hard landing. I will make a bet that if they check the cargo straps they will see that the cargo more than likely broke loose on that first bounce and took the plane off balance to a point that was unrecoverable do to the weight and speed. The twisting of the plane itself suggest internal projectile interference, this can be seen on the second bounce as the plane starts to barrel role violently. Please check the cargo manifest and strap seals and I bet the real cause will show itself not to be wind shear.

[dausone]

And wind shear couldn't have contributed to the hard landing in the first place?

[DaveVDave]

It is amazing to me that the aircraft was already on the ground for a second then went back up and crashed. Thanks for the video!
http://www.TheCommentDepot.com

[Hypnotron]

I wouldn't think spoilers would deploy automatically because a pilot might need to do a touch and go during an emergency (e.g. not enough runway left to stop after overshooting). Seems to me off the tape that the pilot should have in fact waved off on this landing and gone around to try again but instead he bullies the plane to the ground after the bounce and slams it down nose first which is a major major major no no.

This guy looks like he thought he was back in a deft little F-16 or something as opposed to a flying pig. So assuming there was nothing wrong with the aircraft or controls, this has pilot error written all over it.

Disclaimer: My piloting experience is limited to R/C aircraft.

[MajorKong]

Most modern airliners have auto-spoilers. At the company I fly for we always arm the spoilers as part of the before landing checklist.

[WeAreTheBorg]

Agree with Edita.

Though I'm no longer in the airlines (after over 20 years of it), I cringe every time I see an accident report. Those poor guys on that FedEx MD-11 never had a chance...I hope the families avoid that footage. I wouldn't want to watch that, knowing my husband or kid was at the controls...
:'(

[morris111]

People who know nothing about aircraft operations, aircraft structure and design, aircraft maintenance, or the science of aircraft crash damage investigations should not be making comments, suggestions, or formulating any theories about the cause of this crash. Ignorant people should let the investigators from the Japanese Civil Aviation Department, the FAA, and Boeing analyze the flight data and voice recorders and complete the investigations and make public their findings prior to jumping to any conclusions. Every crash is unique, every one. This crash has nothing to do with any recent crahes.

[NonLeftist]

Good call. Too many people jump on the comment bandwagon without having any facts other than the plane crash landed.

[Tom95134]

The U.S. NTSB will likely also be asked to help with the investigation.

I've flown into Narita airport and it is no picnic landing there when winds are gusty. It sets pretty much at the top of a flattened hill and the wind can come sweeping up and over the edge which is fairly near the runway threshold. Clearly, it was a very hard touchdown based on the amount of tire smoke. If you watch the video and step it you can see what looks like a small contrail behind the #3 engine just shortly after the hard touchdown.

This is just conjecture but if the aircraft was equipped with automatic spoilers they would deploy on the first touchdown. And, if the hard touchdown caused a failure of the sensors it is possible that even if the pilot was trying to execute a go-around (the contrail indicating application of take-off power) the spoilers might have remained deployed which would result in no lift and likely cause the plane to nose in. As I said, it just conjecture.

[Seven7s]

pretty much

[edita]

As an airline employee, every time my colleagues and I see an airplane crash with fatalities, we feel like we lost a member of our airline "family". I see these guys when I worked the flights and I give them a lot of respect. When we fly, our lives are in their hands. If pilot error was the cause of the crash, it is because they are just human. The pilots have to use good judgment and skills to weather the elements and land those aircraft so that we can all reach our destination. It is really sad to see when something like this happens. My deepest sympathy to the family of the FedEx crew members.

[Keenan223]

Very sad.
My heart goes out to the FedEx Crew.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

I was one of the first on the scene of a FedEx DC-10 crash on landing at EWR about 10 years ago. The plane flipped onto its back, did not catch fire -- and the crew climbed out a cockpit window unscathed.

That was simply a miracle, one I hadn't thought of in years, and I don't use the word lightly.

[ahsay]

I'm not sure who you are, but I happen to know that neither crew member survived. I got a phone call from a relative of one of the crew members this evening.

[4akinderworld]

Re-read the original post. That poster was speaking of a crash that happened TEN years ago. It really helps to read carefully before responding. Unless a relative of that crash a decade ago called you last night.

[raven29520]

What is with these plane crashes lately? Seems they all take place near the airports!

[Amalek]

It could be because there tend to be a lot of airplanes near airports, but perhaps there is another explanation.

[BannedInBoston]

This is the second FedEx crash this year. Early this year, a FedEx plane crashed in Lubbock, TX, althought the crew walked away (probably rapidly) from that one, which caught fire just after they escaped. I'm no aviation expert, but it does make you wonder if FedEx isn't being remiss either in keeping their pilots' training updated or inspecting and maintaining their planes carefully enough....

[MajorKong]

The Lubbock crash was a FedEx feeder aircraft. They are not operated by FedEx pilots even though they say "FedEx" on the side. They're operated by companies like Mountain Air Cargo.

It's like American Eagle vs American or Comair (The Delta Connection) vs Delta.

[Chris Patteson]

I am not an expert on pilot training, but in the building next to me here in Memphis there are about 6 flight simulators the company actually owns (and we have locations with others). They are never "empty" and a constant flow of Pilots in and out of the facility. Also the FAA would have had issues with us long ago if we were remiss in training.

[swo68]

From what I understand, taking off and landing is the most dangerous part.

I haven't checked stats lately... but I think it's just the media reporting them more since that Hudson river splash down. Just a hunch. Could be totally wrong.

Bless the families of the Fed-Ex crew.

[coffinflyer]

DUHHHH!!!!