A United Parcel Service (UPS) MD11 cargo flight departing Louisville KY for Hawaii crashed soon after takeoff. Crew and a few on ground are known to have died. Early information is that one of engines separated from the airplane. Later analyses are sure to examine UPS maintenance procedures. Current govt shutdown has crimped air traffic control staffing, we can expect connections to be suggested. But I think this is not related to that.
Concur. I was working in my elections side-hustle at the time, when the story broke, and it looked like an uncased engine failure or similar event after V1. We will know 'all of the things' in due time.
Reddit has had a good discussion with pilots on V1 and how it's the absolute worst moment for engine problems because you can no longer abort the take off and your plane is fully loaded with fuel. Evidently the plane was taking packages to Hawaii so it had full tanks. My friend who works in a hotel in downtown Louisville heard the explosion and everyone was ordered to shelter in place for a little while.
My first thought, I have to admit, makes me feel as if I am a total %&*@!, as I sort of thought, good thing I don't have anything coming UPS. A moment later I thought what I jerk I was....not even thinking about the people killed and hurt.
The way you senselessly mass murder yellow Jackets every Summer for no good reason has already established your no good total %&*@! reputation long ago.
Of about 200 MD11s that entered service, none are now pax haulers. About 70 are in active cargo service and about 50 are in short-term storage (by same haulers) for some reason(s). I suppose all of those will be getting close examination on the ground in near future. I is also possible that all UPS maintenance work will be given additional scrutiny regardless of airframe.
We all think without "thinking" sometimes. You immediately recognized it. I would say you are good. Always thought "there, but for the grace of God..." falls into a strange philosophical hole also. And if there has been anyone thinking about God and grace and chance and circumstance for the past half-decade it has been me. But, back to subject at hand... kris
These are old planes and old engines; combined with the fact that there's a race to the bottom where maintenance cost is a concern. It's an easy way to trim cost and expand profit margins. People signing-off on maintenance that may have been performed or could have been performed improperly or questionable cheap 3nd party refurbished/rebuilt parts. Remember a few years ago, when tires were literally falling off planes. That was clearly maintenance oversight - especially happening on different planes with different airlines; twice in one month. That shouldn't have happened in the first place. That door plug issue, where Boeing itself didn't do a proper QC - because fasteners were missing. Just my 2 cents......
Louisville KY is UPS hub with 300 flights per day (according to recent media). Some may have more distant destinations than Honolulu, thus with larger fuel loads, but probably not many. So this may be near max possible single plane crash in cargo biz. MD11 as all now know has 3 engines in the tail. Engine 'departure' is likely to have done damage to flight control surfaces there. If black boxes (also in tail) survived the cook, that will show them to be very sturdy.
