Accident description
languages:
| Status: | Final |
| Date: | 17 OCT 1999 |
| Time: | 23:15 |
| Type: | McDonnell Douglas MD-11F |
| Operator: | Federal Express |
| Registration: | N581FE |
| C/n / msn: | 48419/450 |
| First flight: | 1990 |
| Engines: | 3 General Electric CF6-80C2D1F |
| Crew: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Passengers: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 |
| Total: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Airplane damage: | Written off |
| Location: | Subic Bay International Airport (SFS) (Philippines)
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| Phase: | Landing (LDG) |
| Nature: | Cargo |
| Departure airport: | Shanghai-Hongqiao Airport (SHA/ZSSS), China |
| Subic Bay International Airport (SFS/RPLB), Philippines | |
| Flightnumber: | 87 |
FedEx flight 87 departed Shanghai at 21:16 for a flight to Subic Bay. The MD-11, named "Joshua", touched down at Subic Bay runway 07 at 23:15.
The plane rolled onto runway 25, hitting a concrete post and slamming into a wire fence before plunging into the bay. All of the plane was submerged, 10m offshore, except for the cockpit. The cargo reportedly consisted mainly of electronic goods and garments. N581FE was also part of the US Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF).
PROBABLE CAUSE: "The failure of the flight crew to properly address an erroneous airspeed indication during descent and landing, their failure to verity and select the correct airspeed by checking the standby airspeed indicator, and their failure to execute a missed approach. These failures led to an excessive approach and landing speed that resulted in a runway overshoot. Contributing factors to the accident were clogged pitot tube drain holes, the MD-11's insufficient alerting system for airspeed anomalies, and the failure of the SEL ELEV FEEL MAN and SEL FLAP LIM OVR D checklists to refer the crew to the standby airspeed indicator." Follow-up / safety actions:
As a result of the findings, Boeing recommended DC-10 and MD-11 operators to inspect the water drain holes on the pitot probes every 650 hours to ensure that they are not blocked.
Sources:
Photos
Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Shanghai-Hongqiao Airport (SHA/ZSSS) to Subic Bay International Airport (SFS/RPLB) as the crow flies is 1816 km (1135 miles).
Distance from Shanghai-Hongqiao Airport (SHA/ZSSS) to Subic Bay International Airport (SFS/RPLB) as the crow flies is 1816 km (1135 miles).
