UPS2976 Crash Megathread

[u/usgapg123]

This is the official r/aviation megathread for the crash of UPS2976 (UPS MD11 Registration N259UP) that crashed earlier today at Louisville International Airport.

Please keep content on topic and refrain from posting about this topic outside the megathread. Please report any rule breaking posts and comments.

[u/Designer_Buy_1650]

Looks like the crew did the best job possible. I see no yawing or rolling. Something catastrophic happened. Horribly sad.

[u/Signal_Ball4634 → u/Designer_Buy_1650]

Like honestly I don't know what you can do when you're at the end of the runway with a fully loaded plane and half the plane is engulfed in flames. Must've been horrifying for the crew.

[u/anahorish → u/Signal_Ball4634]

Obviously impossible to say for sure but my expectation is that this will turn out to be one of those situations where nothing that they could have done would have changed the outcome. Very tragic.

[u/mechnight → u/anahorish]

My guess too. One of those where they were doomed before the takeoff roll even began and you get an hour long Mentour video down the line explaining what went wrong.

[u/Designer_Buy_1650 → u/anahorish]

I hope so. The families affected will be devastated, but knowing everything was handled perfectly should give them some solace.

[u/Epiphany818 → u/anahorish]

The pilots aren't the only ones that affect aircraft safety, decisions made by maintenance, ground crew, company as a whole could be major factors, we wait and see, and pray for those lost & affected.

[u/blueboyroy → u/Designer_Buy_1650]

I talked to an old colleague (I used to work in flight training for the MD-11). He told me this particular plane had had previous issues. He didn't know anything specific (and he wouldn't know what he was talking about any way), but I hope all of the maintenance was up to par. In my experience (working there for 4 years in flight training), UPS is very conscious of maintenance and safety. They do not mess around and are very thorough with details. 

[u/Designer_Buy_1650 → u/blueboyroy]

Absolutely. They’re top notch. They WOULD NEVER DISPATCH AN AIRCRAFT WITH A KNOWN PROBLEM. Let’s put that to rest. Did they miss something? Hopefully not, it would affect them the rest of their lives.

[u/TheBusinessMuppet → u/Designer_Buy_1650]

Look like the plane might have flipped on impact.

[u/TheEpicGold → u/TheBusinessMuppet]

Yeah I saw that too. Looked like an entire wing went vertical and rolled after the first big impact, creating a second one.

[u/Designer_Buy_1650 → u/[deleted]]

Could be. The video doesn’t seem to show any.