Originally published at: FedEx Plans MD-11 Return By Late May
FedEx is working with Boeing and the FAA to return its grounded MD-11 cargo jets to service by May 31.
I flew the Mad Dog for over 10 years at FedEx it was a demanding airplane that required attention to detail. With the outstanding training we received, if flown by the numbers it was a joy to operate.
The UPS crew were doomed, no better crew. If the airplanes condition was salvageable they would be around telling us about it.
I’ll be interested to see what the NTSB analysis reveals. What caused the engine to break off? Was it just the “normal operation" of the engine and the cumulative effects of thousands of cycles or was it an engine malfunction causing an out of balance condition, FOD, or a turbine or fan blade separation, turbine wheel chunk failure that resulted in significant out of balance condition that resulted in the dramatic separation of the engine.
RIP brothers, Nickel on the grass.
Let’s see. Two FedEx pilots killed at Narita. A number of FedEx airplanes damaged due to the exceptional handling characteristics, as were 5 Delta airplanes and a similar number at KLM. Then we have two cases of complete engine separation, AA191 and UPS 2976. Despite all the maintenance cautions after AA191, despite all the training in adverse handling we still have this aircraft type crashing in the hands of professional well qualified pilots under normal flight conditions. Time to absolutely, positively…park them.
Interesting post GeeBee. That’s in addition to the original MD-11, the DC-10, whose faulty design of the cargo door, weak cabin floor, hydraulic lines that were too close to the center engine and others, that caused accidents and near accidents that took many lives.
I’ve read in a couple of places that when Boeing issued a service bulletin about the pylons in 2011, FedEx addressed the risk by implementing a redesigned pylon but UPS did not since it was not required. If that is true, it is possible that the redesigned pylons on the FedEx MD-11s prevent a similar failure.
While we know what failed in the pylon assembly, as Sparky said, we do not know exactly why. We have assumed so far it was just the stress of cycles but that may not be true. It was not true of AA191. That answer will be important to determine whether FedEx’s pylon redesign resolves the potential for their fleet.
Looking back at several 747’s that lost engines due to fractured ‘fuse pins’ in years past–
resulting in engine loss similar to the DC-10/ MD-11 pylon failures. Amsterdam
So this engine attachment component has been problematic in more than just one A/C type.
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