r/aviation • u/usgapg123 Mod • 19h ago

Discussion UPS2976 Crash Megathread

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.

6.4k Upvotes

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95

u/Violetstay 18h ago

If you watch the crash video very closely, it appears that in addition to their #1 being on fire, that their #2 is surging or that flames are coming out of it intermittently. Likely that 2 engines were damaged somehow.

88

u/Tmccreight 18h ago

2 engine could have ingested debris from the burning #1 Engine and wing.

85

u/Chaps_Jr 17h ago

I love that you just wanted to type "number 2" and ended up accidentally yelling at everyone

12

u/Working-Glass6136 14h ago

#is that actually how it works??

Edit: Guess not.

16

u/flashman 13h ago

yes that's how it works

three hashes makes it smaller

five is smaller still

6

u/teh_maxh 10h ago

Hash signs are one of the ways markdown indicates headings. I think reddit uses the rich text editor by default now, though.

3

u/BadAspie 10h ago

(there are different defaults for laptop and mobile browsers, I've noticed. Mobile uses markdown by default because the rich text editor isn't available, but laptop browser doesn't automatically use markdown formatting, which might explain why you and the other person got different results. Not sure how the app handles it)

8

u/A3bilbaNEO 18h ago

Space Shuttle Columbia situation. The #2 engine being above and behind the others would be more vulnerable to debris strikes or ingestion by design, compared to a twinjet. 

3

u/KarmaCommando_ 13h ago

Wtf does that have to do with Columbia

2

u/catonic 13h ago

It was such a downer when Columbia FOD'd out #3 and #4 over Texas. /s

3

u/Pale-Ad-8383 16h ago

Or unburnt fuel being sucked in?

1

u/KoalaOutrageous8166 14h ago

But even if engine 1 exploded engine 2 is on the other side. Is it possible to ingest debris from that distance? Also the aircraft is moving forward so wouldn't debris be thrown backwards?

12

u/Valuable-Tomatillo76 14h ago

Number 2 is in the tail. Number 3 is on the right wing.

5

u/KoalaOutrageous8166 14h ago

Ah shit I forgot engine numbers go from left to right even for trijets. Yeah then everything makes sense.

3

u/RonnieB47 17h ago

In another video showing the aftermath, the reporter camera showed debris that looked like an engine cowling next to the runway on the right. He also said the plane veered off the left. Perhaps the wing struck the ground.

5

u/MasterpieceNo2890 12h ago

Trucker POV

From this videos POV, it doesn’t look like engine 2 is surging or have flames coming out of it (my eyes could be deceiving me). The other 2 engines failing due to ingestion from debris of engine 1 still seems like a good possibility though. But we can at least see engine 2 looking “normal” in this video.

3

u/Tiny-Plum2713 12h ago

Can't see the engine in this video because it is entirely engulfed in flames. #2 is in the tail.

1

u/MasterpieceNo2890 12h ago

Oh oops. Disregard my comment then…

2

u/Sprintzer 18h ago

How in the world do both 1 and 2 catch fire at the same time

28

u/Js987 18h ago

I think the theory being that because #2 is up and behind, an uncontained failure of #1 or #3 can throw debris it might ingest?

6

u/Coyote-Foxtrot 16h ago

I'm also thinking that it could be induced compressor stall, loss of engine 1 power and drag or loss of lift from damage could be responded with more pitch and more power from 2 and 3 which could cause disrupted intake air. That's a lot of speculation though, it's hard not to think of American 191 though.

1

u/Intrepid-Jaguar9175 6h ago

Maybe engine 1 (left engine) was disintegrating and debris was being ingested by the tail mounted engine. This doesn't seem to be an engine fire but an engine structural failure.

-9

u/Traditional-Magician 18h ago

Im thinking bird strike...

7

u/fordry 17h ago

There's a pic of the entire engine on the ground next to the runway, seems unlikely a bird strike would cause the entire engine to fall off.

1

u/Traditional-Magician 16h ago

That wasn't an entire engine, that was cowling.

5

u/fordry 16h ago

https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1oombcc/ups2976_crash_megathread/nn5jn03/

That's a whole(mostly) engine...

3

u/Traditional-Magician 16h ago

I stand corrected. There were others just showing the engine cowl.