FedEx C-208 Unscheduled landing

[TonyC]

Local Memphis TV station (I was just waking up, not awake enough to tell which one) says FedEx C-208 Caravan landed on a north Mississippi Highway near Tunica (I think they said 51 or 61?) at about 3AM (about 3 hours ago) after reporting loss of power and then engine failure.

Report continued that the pilot landed the airplane safely on the 4-lane highway and immediately got out and away from the airplane before an 18-wheeler clipped a wing. Nobody injured. No pictures on the TV story - - too dark here - - just “file footage” of what a Caravan looks like.

I can't find anything on the web, even on the local TV station websites... anybody else hear anything?

I can think of less-conspicuous ways of getting to the casinos.

 

[TonyC]

UPDATE

WREG TV Memphis Channel 3 is reporting the C-208 landed in the northbound lane of Highway 61 near the community of Dundee. 18-wheeler clipped the left wing which is now laying on the road, one lane is blocked, one lane still has traffic flowing. (I think it's more of a traffic report to these guys than an aircraft incident.)

2 on board - pilot and "trainee" - - no injuries.

 

[TonyC]

First pictures show airplane off the side of the road - - N738FX - - and 18-wheeler with a WERNER (Omaha-based company) trailer parked on the shoulder. Pictures show damage to TOP of truck cab - - appears to be damage sustained DURING, and not AFTER the landing???

According to the TV news, the airplane was enroute from Memphis to Monroe, LA at 7,000' when the pilot reported loss of power.

Still nothing on the web that I can find...

 

[TonyC]

Finally hits the web...

FedEx Plane makes Emergency Landing

4-27-04

Tunica County, MS- About 3:00 a.m. this morning a FedEx plane made an emergency landing on Highway 61 near the Dundee exit. The plane had just left the Memphis hub and were on the way to Louisiana. Pilots of the Cessna 208 told emergency officials that they lost power at 7,000 feet. Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesman Scott Swanson said it was an excellent emergency landing. No one was injured and a pilot and trainee made it out of the aircraft safely.

However, soon after the landing an 18-wheeler hit the plane on the highway taking off part of a wing. No one was injured in that wreck. The plane was pushed to the side of Highway 61, but a part of the plane remains in the median. One Northbound lane of 61 is closed in the area.

FedEx tells Newschannel 3 it plans to remove the packages from the plane and take them to Monroe, Louisiana, where the plane was headed. They say FedEx owns the plane, but it was leased by Barron Aviation. The Mississippi Federal Aviation Administration and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency are investigating the crash. Stay with Newschannel 3 for the very latest developments on the Cessna emergency landing.

 

[TonyC]

And another...

FedEx feeder plane loses wing during emergency landing on Hwy. 61

A FedEx plane made an emergency landing before dawn this morning on highway 61 in Tunica County, Mississippi.

According to the Mississippi emergency management agency the pilot reported equipment failure while flying about twenty miles south of the city of Tunica.

The propeller powered plane actually clipped a moving semi-tractor trailer that was travelling on Highway 61 at the time.

Emergency Management Agency officials say the force of the impact ripped one of the planes wings off.

FedEx officials say noone on board the plane or inside the truck was hurt.

The plane that crashed is what the shipping giant refers to as a feeder plane.

Officials say feeders are used to make short deliveries to areas that might not be serviced by a full-sized jet.

A spokesman said the plane was headed from Memphis to Monroe, Louisiana when it made the emergency landing.

The plane is not marked with the typical FedEx logo or any other signs indicating that it was flying for Memphis' largest company.

This account of the landing - - "actually clipped a moving semi" - - appears to be more accurate, but the last sentence is incorrect. Pictures on the scene clearly show the FedEx Express logo.

(You'd think professional journalists (is that an oxymoron?!?!) could form paragraphs of more than one sentence, wouldn't you?)

 

[AxisVDP]

You're really into this. Sucks that the truck got his wing...

 

[ShawnC]

First pictures show airplane off the side of the road - - N738FX - - and 18-wheeler with a WERNER (Omaha-based company) trailer parked on the shoulder. Pictures show damage to TOP of truck cab - - appears to be damage sustained DURING, and not AFTER the landing???

The Caravan is a pretty tall plane, so it could have damaged the top of the cab even after the landing.

 

[mudkow60]

Just had a bit on CNN about it. They made it sound that the plane clipped the truck while landing.

 

[KigAir]

The propeller powered plane actually clipped a moving semi-tractor trailer that was travelling on Highway 61 at the time.

Those **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED** propeller powered planes are a menace to society!

 

[FN FAL]

Glad the crew made it out O.K!

Boxes made it out O.K. too!

Now, the most important question...why did the engine quit?