Free Republic

The engine of a UPS cargo plane that crashed on Tuesday could have detached from the jet, an expert has warned, causing a devastating fireball that killed at least nine people. There are fears the death toll could rise after Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear announced this morning that sixteen families had reported their loved ones missing. The Boeing MD-11 plane exploded shortly after departing from Kentucky's Muhammad Ali International Airport in Louisville last night. Speaking with CNN, Mary Schiavo, former Department of Transportation Inspector General, said she believed the engine had come off before the explosion. 'You can see there...

UPS and FedEx said they are grounding their fleets of McDonnell Douglas MD-11 planes “out of an abundance of caution” following a deadly crash at the UPS global aviation hub in Kentucky. MD-11 aircrafts make up about 9% of of the UPS airline fleet and 4% of the FedEx fleet, the companies said.

On Monday evening, November 8, a helicopter-borne Los Angeles news crew shot stunning footage of what appeared to be a missile rising out of the Pacific about 35 miles west of the city. In the days since, competing theories have crowded the Internet as to what that news crew actually recorded. In a quick survey, nearly half of the technical experts with whom I corresponded were inclined to believe the jet contrail theory given tepid blessing by the Pentagon. My own research into the destruction of TWA Flight 800 off the coast of Long Island in July 1996, however, has...

Holy cow..

<p>Stepping up from domestic airline routes to international routes brings some perks to pilots -- like fewer flights per month -- but a 13-hour leg can really be a pain in the keister. AVweb's Michael Maya Charles just upgraded to the MD-11 and the Memphis to Tokyo route ... and now he spends his off-duty time catching up on sleep.</p>

Canada's Transportation Safety Board (TSB) has completed one of the most thorough aircraft accident investigations ever undertaken with a final briefing on the downing of Swissair Flight 111. Over the last four years, the TSB's activities have led to the removal of one type of flammable acoustic insulation from most transport aircraft and to dozens of safety recommendations dealing with electrical system certification, pilot training and aircraft component fire testing. In the end, the TSB determined the Swissair crew was dealing with confusing cues and a hidden fire that propagated fast enough to overwhelm their generally appropriate decision-making. Nevertheless, it...