Sad news for the crew and lots of people on the ground. Some reports of an engine fire, and even an engine separation.
The 3-engine md-11 / dc-10 aircraft family has had a lot of crashes over its operational life. And, apparently, this particular plane was over 30 years old.
From my former instructor who’s now a FO at Delta, who knows a Delta captain who knows a UPS pilot because he used to be part 135 before jumping to part 121, who knows another UPS pilot who was there. The plane was delayed for maintenance on the left engine. Everyone assuming this is relevant for obvious reasons. Left engine separated on takeoff. The ensuing fire or FOD was ingested into the center engine which had a compressor surge and was partial power. MD-11 was Honolulu bound (at max takeoff weight) it could not climb on 1.3 engines or however much thrust they could get out of the centerline engine. That crew didn’t stand a chance.
From nominal departure to dead in a few seconds. Students are usually scared of landings. Seasoned pilots are scared of departures.
Damn, that’s a hell of a fire on the ground.
I just saw an alternate close up video and man that was hard to watch.
40,000 gallons of fuel. Also hit a fuel recycling business. Shocking
This analyst thinks left engine failure took out or at least damaged the right engine, so not enough thrust to climb.
Over 50 MD-11 freighters (all those operated by UPS and FedEx) grounded indefinitely.