FedEx Express Flight 14
| Occupants | 5 |
|---|---|
| Passengers | 3 |
| Crew | 2 |
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Injuries | 5 |
| Survivors | 5 |
FedEx Express Flight 14 was a scheduled cargo flight from
Summary
Flight 14 crashed while landing on runway 22R at Newark Airport on July 31, 1997. The flight originated in
During the flight, the pilots were concerned that they would have little stopping distance after landing, and the captain said that he wanted to put the aircraft down early on the runway. The aircraft had departed with one
The landing was normal until the beginning of the flare phase. The MD-11 touched down, bounced, and rolled to the right. On the second touchdown, about 1,100 feet (340 m) later, the right gear snapped and the No. 3 engine (right wing engine) contacted the runway, with the right roll continuing until the right wing spars broke. The aircraft came to rest off the right side of the runway, on its back, and on fire. All five occupants escaped through a cockpit window. The airplane was destroyed by fire.[4][3]
Aircraft and crew
The aircraft, named Joshua by FedEx, construction number 48603 and line number 553, was a
The captain was 46-year-old Robert M. Freeman who joined FedEx in 1988 when it bought Flying Tiger Line, which he had previously worked for since 1978. Freeman had logged a total of 11,000 flight hours, including 1,253 hours on the MD-11. The first officer was 39-year-old Donald E. Goodin, who had been with FedEx since 1994, having served as a former U.S. Air Force pilot from 1977 to 1994 and had 3,703 flight hours, though only 592 of them were with FedEx. Goodin only had 95 hours on the MD-11.[2]: 11–12 [6][7][8]
Investigation
The
NTSB safety recommendations
As a result of its investigation of this accident, the NTSB made new recommendations based on their findings and conclusions to improve the safety of operations of the MD-11 type aircraft including that the FAA develop new pilot training tools to "include information about factors that can contribute to structural failures involving the landing gear, wings, and fuselage, such as design sink rate limits; roll angle limits; control inputs' roll rate;
Aftermath
For his role in the accident, Captain Freeman was fired from FedEx on October 30, 2000. However, the FedEx pilot union criticized the decision and announced that they would appeal it, citing that the crash was caused by aircraft design flaws.[9]
Flight number
FedEx Express continues to use Flight 14 as an active flight number today; the route has been modified to originate in Hong Kong, with the stop in Taipei before continuing on to Anchorage and Memphis as destination.
Media
The crashes of FedEx Express Flight 14, and a similar crash in 2009 of another McDonnell Douglas MD-11, FedEx Express Flight 80 at Narita International Airport in Japan, are both covered on Season 14 of Mayday (Air Crash Investigation, Air Disasters), episode 5, titled "The Final Push".
See also
- FedEx Express Flight 80 – an MD-11 that bounced and flipped on landing in 2009
- List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft
References
- Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e Crash During Landing, Federal Express, Inc. McDonnell Douglas MD-11, N611FE, Newark International Airport, Newark, New Jersey, July 31, 1997 (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. July 25, 2000. NTSB/AAR-00/02. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
- ^ a b c d "Destabilized Approach Results in MD-11 Bounced Landing, Structural Failure" (PDF). Accident Prevention. 58 (1). Alexandria, VA: Flight Safety Foundation. January 2001.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7546-4965-6 – via Google Books.)
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link - ^ "FAA Registry (N611FE)". Federal Aviation Administration.
- ^ "Operations 2 - Group Chairman Factual Report" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. November 21, 1997. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
- ^ "NTSB DISCUSSES 1997 FEDEX CRASH AT NEWARK". www.joc.com. Associated Press. July 25, 2000. Archived from the original on December 4, 2022. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
- ^ "PILOT SAW HARD LANDING BEFORE NEWARK CRASH A 1997 FEDEX FLIGHT WENT FROM ROUTINE TO LIFE-THREATENING IN A MATTER OF MINUTES". Greensboro News and Record. Washington. Associated Press. December 2, 1998. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
- ^ "TMF: Union Contests Firing of FedEx MD-11 Pilot/Fedex Corp". boards.fool.com. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. November 9, 2000. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Transportation Safety Board.
External links
- NTSB investigation docket
- Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network