This is the track of the last departure from US soil according to ACARS : flightaware.com/live/flight/FDX87
Yes. The only flights you’ll see that involve NRT, LHR, or any other foreign destination outside of Canada will be those that have filed with the FAA. You will also see flights such as QFA21 or DLH499 that pass through FAA jurisdiction.
[quote=“PDXspotta”]
this gives a good idea of what the were going through before the crash:
[quote=“PDXspotta”]
this gives a good idea of what the were going through before the crash:
[quote=“PDXspotta”]
this gives a good idea of what the were going through before the crash:
As I said earlier, NRT is almost as infamous for its crosswinds as the old Kai Tek.
The Japanese press is reporting that the WX service at NRT had issued a windshear warning at the time of the accident.
“The Daily Yomiuri reported that the Narita Aviation Weather Service Center issued a wind shear warning for below 500 m. at the time of the accident. It added that nine aircraft landing “just before the accident reported to the control tower that they had experienced wind shears below 600 m. The control tower subsequently relayed this information to the FedEx crew when it granted the plane permission to land. . .The control tower also told the crew that the wind around the runway was blowing from the northwest at 52.2 km. per hr., with maximum wind speeds reaching 64.8 km. per hr.” Japan’s Transport Ministry said it launched an investigation and conceded that wind shear was a possible cause.”
That is crazy…you ever fly into there? It is on my places to go before I die list.
Quite possibly the LAST place you go on your before I die list!
True 
Do you guys think it was a botched x-wind landing or low level windshear? From the videos it looks like they weren’t fighting a x-wind but the bottom just gave out during the flare and the initial hit was very hard.
Also if any of you big iron guys could help me out-
I assume on the MD11 the reversers are armed by the squat switches? Can you over ride this for this type of situation where you may need to GA after touchdown? It almost seems like they wanted to get back up in the air again but the plane said “No”.
Very good point about the squat switches and the bounce. You would think that by hitting GA then that would disarm everything and let you go…No?
Hmm… Good point.
I wonder if they yanked back before/while hitting TOGA. There would be some mechanical reconfiguring happening before they got any thrust at all. Looks like TOGA would have been useless anyway but maybe it was commanded by pilot instinct after the first Wham!
(Edited for clarity)
What I was thinking is that you wouldn’t want the reversers to actuate until you were sure you were down safe. Then engage them yourself.
Weather is NEVER the cause.
Well, it looks to me like they hit so hard that the yoke came out of the guy’s hands and he didn’t have time to recover.
Of course not, it’s always pilot error. 
Let me start by saying I am NOT an MD-11 Capt…BUT in reading about this incident on a.net, this came up and a guy who does fly them said they are a manual engage.
Also interesting idea about the capt letting go of the yoke after the first bounce…we’ll all have to see what this report says. I actually called the NTSB and asked about getting a copy of the report, and they said it will come from the Japanease and they are there in an advisory capacity.
A few points about the MD-11 (I fly DC-10s, a trained crash investigator, and teach emergency procedures for a major commercial company):
Spoiler deflection: 2/3rds spoiler deflection on Main wheel spinup (must be armed, of course). Full ground spoilers on nose gear touch down.
This does dump all lift of course, so if you bounce with spoilers deployed, you’re not a flying machine unless you added power to overcome drag.
The MD-11 horizontal stabilizer is 30% smaller than a DC-10. It has innate longitudinal stability problems and is notoriously difficult to land. The DC-10 lands more traditionally in a standard nose-up (6-8 degrees pitch) manner. The MD-11 is very flat…read easier to bounce.
The proper response to this (not second guessing their heat-of-the-moment judgement) is to hold the landing attitude, set go-around power and abort the landing. Depending on pilot judgement, he may reset the flaps at this point, but would be OK to leave them in the landing setting until safely away from the ground and flying at a safe airspeed. Even if the aircraft ‘settles’ once or twice more, you are building lift and WILL leave the ground soon, since the spoilers will retract with the added power.
As you see, you can not porpoise or bounce a large aircraft like this or you will lose control quickly and become a passenger in the machine.
Finally, it’s not apparent they went for the thrust reversers (not likely, but possible). That act would also shift the center of lift aft and cause a pitch up moment, further exacerbating the problem.
Finally, it should be noted that FedEx pilots, by PROCEDURE, land with the autothrottles ON. Autotrottles on the MD-11 automatically retard the throttles at 50 feet on the radio altimeter. In crosswinds and gusts with wind additives to the approach speed, autothrottles will ‘chase’ airspeed and IMO this makes landing a pitch sensitive aircraft very challenging. Unless, as some do, you held your hand on the throttles and delayed this 50 foot power pull, it’s easy to see how you could end up ‘dropping it in’ and bouncing. My bet is they will have a thorough review at FedEx of this procedure and also look at how they energy manage their approaches during strong/gusty winds. They also don’t apply a reference groundspeed procedure to ensure there’s enough momentum in a windshear situation. They add full gust OR steady state above 20 knots to the approach speed and not both. IMO, setting yourself up for being too slow in gusty winds. We teach add both up to a max of 20 knots AND calculate/fly reference groundspeed.
Hope this sheds some light… If I’ve said anything out of line, please shed some light (flamers need not apply).
If no one has said this yet Thank you for the education. THIS sort of insight is why I enjoy these forums.
Yes, Thank You.
It’s like having a PC-12 driver explain the issues in the Butte Crash. Very informative.