MD-11 plane crashes

The following are significant events involving the aircraft model. The numbered events are those involving at least one passenger death where the aircraft flight had a direct or indirect role, and where at least one of the dead passengers was not a stowaway, hijacker, or saboteur.

1. 6 April 1993; China Eastern Airlines MD-11; B2171; flight 583; near Aleutian Islands, USA: The aircraft was on a scheduled international flight from Shanghai, China to Los Angeles, CA. The crew accidentally deployed the leading edge slats in cruise. While trying to correct the initial pitching of the aircraft, the crew put the aircraft through several more oscillations. The crew regained control of the aircraft and diverted to a US Air Force base in Shemya, Alaska. All 20 crew members survived, but two of the 235 passengers were killed during these maneuvers.
   NTSB Accident Report
   
   31 July 1997; Federal Express (FedEx) MD-11F; Flight 14; Newark, NJ: The aircraft was on a scheduled cargo flight from Anchorage, AK to Newark, NJ. The aircraft touched bounced after touchdown, and after touching down a second time the right hand engine (number three) dragged along the ground until the right wing spars broke, causing the aircraft to skid off the right side of the runway. The aircraft ended up inverted and on fire. This same aircraft (tail number N611FE) was involved with a bounced landing and tail strike in Anchorage, Alaska on November 4, 1994. and also another hard landing that same year, but the NTSB concluded that the aircraft had been properly repaired Both crew members and three other occupants survived.
   NTSB Accident Report
   Other FedEx Express Plane Crashes

2. 2 September 1998; Swissair MD-11; Flight 111; near Halifax, Canada: The aircraft was on a nonstop flight from New York's JFK airport to Geneva, Switzerland. The aircraft crashed at night in the Atlantic Ocean close to shore about 50 miles (80 km) southwest of Halifax, Nova Scotia. All 15 crew members and 214 passengers were killed.
   Transportation Safety Board of Canada accident report
   Other Swissair Plane Crashes
   More about this event

3. 22 August 1999; China Airlines MD-11; Flight 642; Hong Kong, China: The aircraft was landing in Hong Kong at night and during a storm after a flight from Bangkok, Thailand. The aircraft struck the runway and came to rest upside down and on fire. All 15 crew members survived, but three of the 300 passengers were killed.
   China Airlines Plane Crashes
   Accident Report from the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department
   More about this event
   
   15 April 1999; Korean Air MD-11; Flight 6316; near Shanghai, China: Shortly after takeoff on a flight from Shanghai to Seoul, South Korea, with the aircraft about 4,500 feet above the ground, the crew mistakenly put the aircraft into an an abrupt descent and were unable to recover the aircraft before it struck a residential area about about 10 kilometers (six miles) from the airport. All three crew members were killed, as were five people on the ground.
   Other Korean Air Plane Crashes
   
   17 October 1999; Federal Express MD-11F; Flight 87; Subic Bay, Philippines: The aircraft was landing in Subic Bay after a flight from Shanghai, China. The aircraft had an excessively high landing speed and as a result overran the runway, coming to rest in Subic Bay. Although most of the aircraft was submerged, both crew members survived.
   Other FedEx Express Plane Crashes
   
   23 March 2009; FedEx Express MD-11F; Flight 80; near Tokyo, Japan: The aircraft was on a cargo flight from Guangzhou, China to Narita Airport near Tokyo, Japan. The aircraft bounced on landing, and contacted the runway a second time nose wheel first before rolling to the left, contacting the runway with its left stabilizer and wing, and catching fire. The aircraft ended up in an inverted position. Both crew members were killed.
   Other FedEx Express Plane Crashes
   
   28 November 2009; Avient Aviation MD-11F; Flight 324; Shanghai, China: The aircraft was on was on an unscheduled cargo flight from Shanghai, China to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan when it crashed. Reportedly, one eyewitness, who is a pilot based in Shanghai, stated that the main gear left the ground just before the end of the runway, with the aircraft gaining very little altitude, before impacting approach lights and antennas and falling back onto the ground. Another report indicated that the aircraft's tail struck the runway one or more times during takeoff. Three of the seven crew members were killed. More crash details, including photos, available at AirSafeNews.com
   
   27 July 2010; Lufthansa; MD-11F; flight 8460; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: The aircraft was on a cargo flight from Frankfurt, Germany to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia had a landing accident that fractured the fuselage. The two crew members survived.
   Lufthansa plane crashes

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Plane crashes by model
Plane crash rates by model