An MD-11 crashed on take off in Kentucky,reports said the left engine separated.

The same happened to one of its predecessors the DC-10 a few years ago.

https://news.sky.com/story/cargo-plane-crashes-at-airport-in-kentucky-13464102

Some guys used to call the MD-11 MegaDeath Two.

 

Some of the videos of the crash, including the one above, are shocking.

6 hours ago, coxyhog said:

 

I think I saw an Air crash documentary on the DC-10 a few years ago. didn't they find parts of it in a farmers field?.

That crash is bloody horrific. Surprising that there weren't more fatalities.

55 minutes ago, Butch said:

I think I saw an Air crash documentary on the DC-10 a few years ago. didn't they find parts of it in a farmers field?.

That crash is bloody horrific. Surprising that there weren't more fatalities.

No that was a different DC-10 crash where the middle engine blew & took out the flight controls with it,the crew controlled it by using the throttles on the remaining engines.A lot of fatalities but some survived as they got it onto the runway but it was pretty messy.

The one I was on about was an American Airlines DC-10 taking off from Chicago O'Hare airport when the left engine literally fell off with eveyone killed.The sad thing was that if the flight crew knew what had happened they could've saved the aircraft.

The mechanics had found a way to make an engine change quicker by using a forklift instead of the approved hoist apparatus,if I remember correctly putting too much stress on the attachment bolts.The FAA grounded all US registered DC-10's & tried to ground Freddie Lakers fleet but,quite reasonably,he argued that his mechanics did engine changes IAW the maintenance manual.He won his case.

Not sure what happened to the AA mechs but if I'd done something like that with a similar result I'd have been looking at a lot of jail time.

I was wrong,the forklift damaged a bracket eventually causing fatigue fracture.Also there were 3 US airlines doing the same shit so the guilt lay at a higher level than the mechs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_191

Edited November 5, 2025Nov 5 by coxyhog

I saw a YT video from Captain Steve(sp.?), he seems to be one of the experts whenever a crash occurs. Seems to a tragedy where the pilots did everything possible even after knowing they were f—ked, enough fuel for the 9 hours to Hawaii, going way too fast to abort(182 KNOTS), and then no lift plus huge tilt, due to an engine breaking off….Surprised these models are still flying honestly

As @Butch said, this could have been much worse

Edited November 5, 2025Nov 5 by Golfingboy

11 hours ago, coxyhog said:

 

The full dashcam video.

 

 

On 11/5/2025 at 7:58 PM, coxyhog said:

No that was a different DC-10 crash where the middle engine blew & took out the flight controls with it,the crew controlled it by using the throttles on the remaining engines.A lot of fatalities but some survived as they got it onto the runway but it was pretty messy.

The one I was on about was an American Airlines DC-10 taking off from Chicago O'Hare airport when the left engine literally fell off with eveyone killed.The sad thing was that if the flight crew knew what had happened they could've saved the aircraft.

The mechanics had found a way to make an engine change quicker by using a forklift instead of the approved hoist apparatus,if I remember correctly putting too much stress on the attachment bolts.The FAA grounded all US registered DC-10's & tried to ground Freddie Lakers fleet but,quite reasonably,he argued that his mechanics did engine changes IAW the maintenance manual.He won his case.

Not sure what happened to the AA mechs but if I'd done something like that with a similar result I'd have been looking at a lot of jail time.

I was wrong,the forklift damaged a bracket eventually causing fatigue fracture.Also there were 3 US airlines doing the same shit so the guilt lay at a higher level than the mechs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_191

That's bloody interesting.

Goes to show how safe and detailed aviation actually is, the guys using the forklift probably thought "it's fine, lifting it won't hurt" but it's like the H&S brief we were shown and you've probably seen, which is the triangle diagram whereby small , unrecorded or unnoticed incidents at the base lead up to a fatality / major incident.

I've seen it before when a manager has turned a blind eye to a practice which shouldn't be happening (in this case a glove covering a faulty sensor which worked a gate interlock at height. He was later educated on the "acts or omissions" part of the H&S at work act.

Without going too O/T, did you see the one that was about the wrong length of screws being used to secure a windscreen which led to a near fatal incident when a pilot was hanging out of the window being held by his ankles?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_5390

The "black boxes" are actually black this time.

 

52 minutes ago, Butch said:

Without going too O/T, did you see the one that was about the wrong length of screws being used to secure a windscreen which led to a near fatal incident when a pilot was hanging out of the window being held by his ankles?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_5390

That was unreal, played on Mayday here in Canada and I couldn’t believe it, had never heard of it until the broadcast

 

14 hours ago, Butch said:

Without going too O/T, did you see the one that was about the wrong length of screws being used to secure a windscreen which led to a near fatal incident when a pilot was hanging out of the window being held by his ankles?

That was a BA BAC 1-11,the type I was working on in Oman at the time of the incident.

The very same day we had replaced a windscreen and when the aircrew came into the office to sign for the aircraft prior to flight they wanted to know if we'd done a pressure test.Our reply was no because we used the correct screws.

Being the military an edict was subsequently issued that a ground pressurisation check had to be done after a windscreen change.It backfired on the aircrews because we weren't medically certified to carry them out so we had to get a pilot in to do it.

Of course eventually they got us checked out by a doc.

PS I heard that they thought the pilot was dead & were only hanging on to his legs to stop him going down the intake.

13 hours ago, fygjam said:

The "black boxes" are actually black this time.

 

Not surprising given that fire.

Some interesting speculation.

 

Guess who first received delivery of this plane way back in 1991 ? 
 

 

AD grounding MD-11 aircraft issued.

 

The GE CF6 engine is used on a shitload of aircraft types.

 

Edited November 10, 2025Nov 10 by fygjam

On 11/9/2025 at 6:11 PM, fygjam said:

AD grounding MD-11 aircraft issued.

 

The GE CF6 engine is used on a shitload of aircraft types.

 

I doubt if they will fly again . UPS and FEDEX have most of what's left flying , all cargo .

No passengers on MD11 since 2014 . 

DC-10 now also grounded

 

 

Not sure if this is real or AI....

46 minutes ago, coxyhog said:

Not sure if this is real or AI....

Real and explained in the preceding video.

It's called gyroscopic precession.

 

Boeing concluded in 2011 that failure of the spherical bearing in the aft pylon mount did NOT pose a safety of flight issue.

I wonder if they've had a rethink on that.

 

31 minutes ago, fygjam said:

Boeing concluded in 2011 that failure of the spherical bearing in the aft pylon mount did NOT pose a safety of flight issue.

I wonder if they've had a rethink on that.

 

In 2011 was it Boeing or McDonnell that said that? I forgot when they merged

58 minutes ago, Mrmango said:

In 2011 was it Boeing or McDonnell that said that? I forgot when they merged

Well and truly Boeing, about 15 years after the merger.

 

AI Overview

Boeing merged with McDonnell Douglas on 

August 1, 1997, after the deal was announced in December 1996, creating a major aerospace powerhouse combining Boeing's commercial strength with McDonnell Douglas's defense expertise, though many of McDonnell Douglas's civil programs were soon discontinued.