Fed Ex Crashed in TLH..

[Simon Says]

Just saw it on the news, but I cannot find it on the internet yet. They say it was a 727 took off out of MEM enroute to somewhere in Florida. They also reported the plane was on fire as it was trying to make an emergency landing in TLH.

 

[Av8tor]

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - A FedEx Boeing 727 cargo jet crashed and burned
short of the runway Friday at Tallahassee Airport. The three-member crew
escaped with minor injuries, the company said.

The three-engine jet, FedEx Fight 1478 from Memphis, landed a half mile short
of the runway at 5:43 a.m., said Kathleen Bergen, a Federal Aviation
Administration spokeswoman at regional offices in Atlanta.

It wasn't immediately know why it didn't reach the runway.

``We can't speculate on the cause,'' said Jess Bunn, the FedEx spokesman at
company headquarters in Memphis, Tenn. ``The National Transportation Safety
Board and FedEx's own safety team will be investigating.''

The crew members were taken by ambulance to a hospital where they were
reported in good condition, the company said.

Michelle Bono, a spokeswoman for the City of Tallahassee, which owns the
airport, said the airport would remain closed until the wreckage is cleared.

 

[Huck]

Anybody know what the weather was?

 

[flx757]

All I've found is this little blurb. I'm sure there will be more info later.

http://money.excite.com/jsp/nw/nwdt...&feed=reu&news_id=reu-n26321662&date=20020726

 

[58flyr]

Sorry to hear about another Fedex plane lost. The news here in Memphis is not too detailed yet.

Back in the mid-90s I did the haz for the TLH flight--used to be some pretty nasty stuff went on that run. Moody AFB got a lot of it. The 727s on that run used to go MEM-MOB-TLH. That was the run that all the mx birds were on, so some of the planes were real question marks. Just glad to hear nobody was really hurt.

To reply to Huck,I haven't seen this morning's wx but the fog or haze can get real bad there.

I hate to see any area of aviation take another hit at this time, but I sure hope this wasn't a case of pilot error. (Was it another Tiger pilot?)

 

[58flyr]

Just to update the reply about the TLH wx:

Wx this morning at TLH was clear, wind calm, 22/21. Can't find a report of fog or surface vis, but sure sounds like perfect conditions for fog.

 

[FreightGuyNTX]

As far as I'm concerned the NTSB will sort out the rest of the stuff, I'm just thrilled the crew came out of this as well as they did!

 

[hyper]

I too am grateful that they made it out alive.

In the 2 hrs I've been flipping between MSNBC, CNN and FOXNews, I've seen one 20 second flash on CNN and then nothing. They showed the burned 727 briefly.

I can't help but think that if that crew had not survived, it would be on every network running through the media glorification of death. But since they survived and quite possibly did an outstanding job, it just ain't newsworthy.

Sad thing is, if they find that the crew messed up in anyway, we'll be enduring yet another attack of headlines questioning airplane safety......

 

[Huck]

Maybe not - cargo is usually under the media's radar....

I'll never forget, after the Newark crash, Kathie Lee Gifford said "Well there was a plane crash last night, but thank God, it was a cargo plane...."

 

[hyper]

You have a point Huck. Man, I never heard that one about kathy lee. I knew there was a reason I disliked her.

 

[Boz]

Glad to hear that the crew got out okay, wishing them a speedy recovery!

 

[EagleRJ]

Here is the Metar from TLH just after the crash:

KTLH 261053Z 00000KT 9SM FEW001 SCT015 SCT150 BKN250 22/22 A3013 RMK AO2 SLP200 VIS SW-NW 1/2 CB DSNT SE CB DSNT SW FU SCT015 FU PLUME OVR APCH RWY 09 T02220217

There were some low clouds in the area and nearby thunderstorms, but there's no telling if that had anything to do with the accident.

JimboGoodPilot, not a very classy comment. Hopefully no one will joke about your sobriety if you have an accident. Here's to a fast recovery by the flight crew.

 

[Simon Says]

I still cannot tell if it was a schedual arrival or not? Anybody...Also which runway were they shooting for? I think it is 18/36 or 09/27 ILS on 18 and 09. Anybody.......? I suppose the earlier reports about the fire have been retracted.

Kathy Lee Gifford...........Geez what a MFB did she say that on Regis and Kathy Lee.

 

[Ned]

http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/3740826.htm

Tallahassee has
ILS / GPS 27
GPS 9
VOR / GPS 18
ILS / NDB / GPS 36

Runways 18 - 36 have been closed and the glideslope for ILS 36 has been out for a while.

Pics make it look like they circled to land but I can't really tell.

 

[JimboGoodPilot]

If you look close you see pilot's beer cans and 40 oz. on ground, oop!!!! He can be to get job at America West airline!

 

[flyboy]

Jimbo

What's your problem buddy? Have you been boozin a little today? Come on, show some class. 56,000 hours, uh. I say B.S. and then some.

 

[Worldflyer]

This one is for Huck...

Hey buddy, sorry to hear about that 727 crash at Tallhassee. Have you finished training on the panel yet ? And are your 727 CAT II or III ?

Hope all is well for you and your family,

Jerome

 

[hyper]

FYI

jimbo is a carry over from another site. His schtick is to get rises out of people. Take him with a grain of salt. At times he's funny if you just consider the source. Flame away jimbo, I know who you are

 

[Dieterly]

Old JIMBO REAL GOOD PILOT was funny,this guy is not.

 

[chperplt]

I second that.. The old JIMBO was a hoot.. This guy needs to work on his english skills.

 

[Huck]

Jerome - check your private messages, Captain Airbuus.


For the rest of you - here's a good picture of the site:

http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/3740826.htm

 

[hyper]

Absolutely amazing they got out alive. They must have done something right. Is there an argument for 3 person crews to share the workload in here somewhere??

 

[FL000]

ahhhh, the dreaded "side approach". That's probably what got 'em.

 

[Stingman]

All the media seems to care about is the stupid election paperwork.

 

[JetProp]

Here is a link with a picture of the crash scene. I was there that morning at the time of the accident and saw the fire. The crew is lucky to be alive!

http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/3744992.htm

(c) 2001 tallahassee and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.

 

[cmrflyer]

I was in TLH this morning, they made a lovely big whole in the tree line. Ended up with the tail pointing towards the approach end of the runway. Well done.

 

[Anaconda]

All the media seems to care about is the stupid election paperwork.

agreed...realizing of course that TLH is the capitol, i couldn't believe how many paragraphs of election b.s. i had to wade through in order to read about the accident.

another cmrflyer in mco

 

[LR25]

I dont know if anybody remembers the Airborne DC-8 that crashed on a test flight out of GSO back in 1997, but CNN when they were reporting on it said " A SMALL DC-8 crashed today in the mountians of North Carolina".

Since when is a 350K pound airplane small?

That crash took 5 lives.

The media, eeekkkk!

 

[jetdriven]

I fly into TLH everyday. i didnt see this accident happen but I saw it 5 hours after it happened. They were making a straight in to runway 9. Dark, early morning and sky clear. Runway 9 is served only by a PAPI which is very bright and glares, I find it hard to use. There is no ILS or glideslope information, but we usually cheat and use the localizer for 27. Also, there are no lights on the ground for the ten-twenty miles leading up to the threshold, so you have a classic "black-hole" approach. Plus the runway has a slight upslope. The tower was closed. They went into the 200' tall pine trees right wing low and trimmed the trees for about 150 yards. then they popped out onto the airport property, hit the ground, again, it appears right wing low. As the right wing caused drag it spun the airplane around to a heading of about 250 and slid for about 200 yards. the left wing was largely intact, as was the left side fuselage and cockpit area. It was all burned up when we saw it.
**wild speculation here**
they might have got low, or slow, or both (a factor might be the black hole approach and glaring PAPI)and caused them to go into the trees. When that happened they lost airspeed and that was the end of it. Thank god they got out OK. I dont think they were making an emergency landing, I heard the rumor they were on fire before landing but I dont believe it.

 

[BigFlyr]

Absolutely amazing they got out alive. They must have done something right. Is there an argument for 3 person crews to share the workload in here somewhere??

YOU GOT THAT RIGHT! There's nothing like a three man crew when you've got your hands full. That being said, even a three man crew can fail. For now though, lets give them credit for not getting killed and let the investigation process figure it out.