McDonnell Douglas MD-11 - Accidents and Incidents - Notable Accidents and Incidents

Notable Accidents and Incidents

• On April 6, 1993 China Eastern Flight 583, a MD-11 went into severe oscillations when a crew member accidentally deployed the slats during cruise flight over the Pacific Ocean near the Aleutian Islands. Two passengers ultimately died.
• On July 31, 1997 FedEx Flight 14, MD-11 N611FE, crashed during a landing at Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey. The aircraft flipped onto its back and subsequently burned, following a landing attempt from an unstabilized flare.
• On September 2, 1998 Swissair Flight 111, HB-IWF, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean while en route from New York City to Geneva, Switzerland. All 229 people on board perished. The cause of the crash was determined to be a fire caused by improper wiring of Swissair-added passenger entertainment system units. The fire started at the front of the aircraft and quickly grew uncontrollable, attributed partly to the poor flame retardant properties of its metalized mylar insulation.
• On April 15, 1999 Korean Air, MD-11 bearing registration HL7373, crashed shortly after take off while operating cargo flight KE6316 from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport to Seoul. After take off, the first officer contacted Shanghai Departure, which cleared the flight to climb to 1,500 metres (4,900 ft): "Korean Air six three one six now turn left direct to November Hotel Whiskey climb and maintain one thousand five hundred meters." When the aircraft climbed to 4,500 feet (1,400 m) in the corridor, the captain, after receiving two wrong affirmative answers from the first officer that the required altitude should be 1,500 ft (460 m), thought that the aircraft was 3,000 ft (910 m) too high. The captain then pushed the control column abruptly and roughly forward causing the MD-11 to enter a rapid descent. Both crew members tried to recover from the dive, but were unable.
• On August 22, 1999 China Airlines Flight 642, an MD-11 operated by subsidiary Mandarin Airlines, crashed while landing at Hong Kong airport during a typhoon that exceeded the plane's crosswind specifications, also flipping onto its back and burning. Three passengers were killed.
• On October 17, 1999 FedEx Express Flight 87, MD-11 N581FE, was written off after landing at Subic Bay International Airport, Philippines. The aircraft was operating from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport. Upon landing, the aircraft rolled down the whole length of the runway before plunging into the bay where it was completely submerged except for the cockpit. An excessive approach and landing speed was pointed out as probable cause of the accident.
• On March 23, 2009 FedEx Express Flight 80, N526FE, crashed at Narita International Airport, Japan while landing in windy conditions. Airport surveillance video showed the aircraft becoming airborne again after the first touch-down, then impacting nose-first the second time and turning onto its left side, erupting into flames; the impact flipped the aircraft upside down. The aircraft finally came to rest some distance left of the runway. The two flight crew members were killed.
• On November 28, 2009, an Avient Aviation Flight 324, MD-11F, registration Z-BAV (c/n 48408), crashed on take-off from Shanghai Pudong International Airport on a flight to Bishkek-Manas International Airport, Kyrgyzstan with the loss of 3 lives. The aircraft was written-off.
• On July 27, 2010 Lufthansa Cargo Flight 8460, a MD-11, crash landed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The two pilots are reported to have survived.