Investigation Summary
The flight was a routine cargo operation from Oakland to Memphis. During the approach, the crew was informed of crosswinds and potential wind shear. The first officer was hand-flying the aircraft while the captain, acting as a check airman, monitored the flight. As the aircraft neared the runway, it developed a high sink rate of approximately 14.5 feet per second, exceeding the MD-10's design limit of 12 feet per second. The right main landing gear struck the runway first, causing the aircraft to bounce. As the aircraft touched down again, the right main landing gear fractured and collapsed. The aircraft veered off the right side of the runway and caught fire. During the evacuation, a non-revenue pilot passenger accidentally detached the L1 emergency slide by pulling the raft-release handle. Because the slide was rendered useless and the main cabin was filling with smoke, all seven occupants were forced to evacuate through the cockpit windows using escape ropes. Despite the fire and evacuation difficulties, all seven occupants survived.
Final Conclusions
The NTSB concluded that the probable cause was the first officer's failure to properly align the airplane with the runway centerline and flare adequately before touchdown. A contributing factor was the captain's failure to monitor the first officer and initiate corrective action. The investigation also noted deficiencies in FAA oversight regarding flight crew evacuation training, particularly concerning the operation of emergency slides.
Photographic Evidence (1)
Video Analysis
No video analysis linked for this case file yet.
Airframe & Maintenance
Crew Experience
Captain
Arthur W. Murphy Jr., acting as check airman during the flight.
First Officer
Paulette Deshazer, pilot flying during the accident landing. She was undergoing a line check at the time of the accident.
Systems & Failure Modes
Main Landing Gear
The MD-10 landing gear is designed to absorb energy up to a 12 feet per second descent rate; the 14.5 fps impact fractured the outer cylinder.
Emergency Exit Slide
The slide featured a dual-purpose handle that could release the slide as a raft; improper operation during the emergency caused it to detach from the airframe.
Interesting Facts
- 01The aircraft was a 32-year-old MD-10-10F, originally built as a DC-10-10 for United Airlines in 1971.
- 02The right main landing gear touched down at a descent rate of 14.5 feet per second, exceeding the 12 feet per second design limit.
- 03The first officer was undergoing a multi-leg line check conducted by the captain.
- 04An emergency slide was rendered useless during evacuation because a passenger pilot pulled the handle for raft release instead of slide deployment.
- 05The aircraft was completely destroyed by the post-crash fire and subsequently written off.
Safety Actions & Advisories
Training Revision
FedEx revised its training programs to emphasize bounce recovery procedures and stabilized approach criteria.
Captain Intervention Policy
FedEx updated policies regarding when a check airman or captain must intervene during line checks and training flights.
FAA Evacuation Training
The NTSB recommended improvements to FAA Order 8400.10 to ensure better flight crew training for emergency evacuation systems.