FedEx Cargo Plane Crashes at Tokyo Airport

[FrankTheTank]

A FedEx freight hauler on a flight from Guangzhou, China to Tokyo landed in high wind conditions and eventually flipped upside down bursting into flames with no survivors.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,510083,00.html

http://lionelcole.com/forum/showthread.php?p=71682#post71682

 

[A4sForever]

Bummer -- painful to watch -- and a sad day for the Brethren.

I saw a clip of the video at a bar in SEA tonight on the TV. Tokyo is fucked -- and I mean really, really fucked-up. They routinely operate w/ WX and winds out of limits ... not making any judgments as I wasn't there -- but I HAVE "been there" and know the score when it comes to NRT and the Far East. I've had to land there when it was the last option -- w/ the winds so strong that we were bumping side-to-side against the straps.

I'll be curious to see what the WX was at the time of the crash.

Bad day ...

 

[Beans]

Ask and you shall receive:
Crash occurred at 0649 local on 23MAR, which at UTC+9 is 2149Z 22MAR.

RJAA=NRT=Tokyo Narita Airport

I have no idea what it's like to fly one of these behemoths, so I'll let those who do digest the data below.

Here's a list of METARs from 2000Z-2300Z:
METAR RJAA 222300Z 30018G29KT 9999 FEW030 13/M04 Q1002 WS
R34R NOSIG RMK 1CU030 A2960=

SPECI RJAA 222238Z 30019G32KT 9999 FEW030 12/M03 Q1002 WS
R34R RMK 1CU030 A2959=

METAR RJAA 222230Z 30018KT 9999 FEW030 12/M03 Q1001 WS R34R
TEMPO 31020G30KT RMK 1CU030 A2959 2218 MOD TURB
BLW 500FT ON FNA RWY34R B767=

METAR RJAA 222200Z 31026G40KT 9999 FEW020 12/M02 Q1001 NOSIG
RMK 1CU020 A2957 P/RR=

METAR RJAA 222130Z 32026G40KT 9999 FEW020 12/M02 Q0999 WS
R34L NOSIG RMK 1CU020 A2952 P/RR=

SPECI RJAA 222108Z 31025G35KT 9999 FEW020 12/M01 Q0998 RMK
1CU020 A2949=

METAR RJAA 222100Z 30013G28KT 260V330 9999 FEW020 13/M01
Q0998 NOSIG RMK 1CU020 A2948=

 

[spitfiremkxiv]

METAR RJAA 222200Z 31026G40KT 9999 FEW020 12/M02 Q1001 NOSIG
RMK 1CU020 A2957 P/RR=

METAR RJAA 222130Z 32026G40KT 9999 FEW020 12/M02 Q0999 WS
R34L NOSIG RMK 1CU020 A2952 P/RR=

Runway 34L

 

[Bevo16]

Crap. I have a ton of friends that fly for FedEx. Being in Memphis, damn near all of the reserve guys that augment my unit fly for them.

Time to start making phone calls.

 

[A4sForever]

Runway 34L

Sounds like big/bad winds down the runway or pretty damn close to it -- the Japs & NRT are still fucked when it comes to airport ops ... standing by for more info ...

Bottom line: a bad day ...

 

[yodaears]

From that video it kind of looks like he was attempting a last second go-around which then resulted in a stall after the bounce. There's a pretty pronounced nose down pitch change just before he impacts the final time which made me think stall. Is the flip the result of a roll off or collapsed gear or both? Bad day is right. I'll remember them tomorrow.

 

[BACONATOR]

As long as the peanut gallery is tossing in the collective 0.02, was it just gusty winds or could it have been LLWS? Kinda looked like the latter the way he just DROPPED to the deck so spontaneously. However it was pretty blurry.

 

[A4sForever]

.... could it have been LLWS? Kinda looked like the latter the way he just DROPPED to the deck so spontaneously. However it was pretty blurry.

Dunno ... they get a LOT of LLWS in Tokyo/NRT ... really whips across the Kanto Plain on a regular basis ... and it seems to be most prevalent on CAVU days just after frontal passage when it's severe clear to the moon VIZ-wise ...

 

[BACONATOR]

Dunno ... they get a LOT of LLWS in Tokyo/NRT ... really whips across the Kanto Plain on a regular basis ... and it seems to be most prevalent on CAVU days just after frontal passage when it's severe clear to the moon VIZ-wise ...

Roger. Those damn CAVU days really lull you into a false sense of security...

 

[FrankTheTank]

Update: Both crew members confirmed died and ANC based not memphis. Winds are the initial source of investigation. Once they get/find the black boxes that should give a ton of info.. If not even conclusive..

 

[hscs]

From someone living out in Japan -- the winds were the worst that I have seen in a year out here. Very strong and gusty.

 

[jorgelito]

Sounds like big/bad winds down the runway or pretty damn close to it -- the Japs & NRT are still fucked when it comes to airport ops ... standing by for more info ...

Bottom line: a bad day ...

Does this come down to the ATCs then? I would expect that type of recklessness from the Chinese for sure but I always thought the Japs were more conservative and reliable. Seems kind of risky.

 

[picklesuit]

Makes my stomach hurt to watch that one...was that a wind-aggravated PIO or possibly a bad crosswind? I ran 30-5 with 40 knots at 30 degrees offset which gave me a 20 knot x-wind...a decent amount but still within NATOPS for the WarPig...what was the max for the plane they were flying?

To my untrained eyes...it looks like they had some smash left but the left wing gave out on the second bounce...

Prayers for the families...
Pickle

 

[KCOTT]

Does this come down to the ATCs then? I would expect that type of recklessness from the Chinese for sure but I always thought the Japs were more conservative and reliable. Seems kind of risky.

I was in my IFS class today and asked about it and he said the ultimate responsibility lies with the pilot-in-command.