Coordinates: 35°01′59.9″N 89°58′18.

7″W

FedEx Express Flight 647

FedEx Express (FedEx) Flight 647 was a flight between Metropolitan Oakland
FedEx Express Flight 647
International Airport (OAK), Oakland, California and Memphis International
Airport (MEM), Memphis, Tennessee that crashed during landing on December 18,
2003.[2]

Contents
Aircraft and flight crew
FedEx Flight 647 after the fire.
Flight and incident
Accident
Investigation
References Date December 18, 2003

Further reading Summary Pilot error[1]

External links Site Memphis

International
Airport, Memphis,
Tennessee, United
Aircraft and flight crew States
The aircraft involved in the incident was a McDonnell Douglas MD-10-10F Aircraft type McDonnell Douglas
MD-10-10F
(registration N364FE).[1]:viii The MD-10 is an upgraded variant of the McDonnell
Douglas DC-10 three-engine wide-body aircraft. At the time of the accident, the Aircraft name Amber
[1]:10
aircraft had a total of approximately 65,375 flight hours. Operator FedEx Express
Registration N364FE
The flight had an experienced flight crew; the captain had about 21,000 total fight
Flight origin Metropolitan
hours, including 2,602 flight hours in the MD-10 and MD-11 series of aircraft, Oakland
while the first officer had about 15,000 total fight hours, including 1,918 hours in International
the MD-10/MD-11.[1]:6 Airport, Oakland,
California
The flight also had aboard 5 off-duty FedEx crew members bound for Destination Memphis
Memphis.[1]:1 International
Airport, Memphis,
Tennessee
Flight and incident
Passengers 5
On December 18, 2003, Flight 647 was scheduled to depart Oakland for Memphis Crew 2
at 08:10 central standard time, and after a brief delay due to a package sorting issue, Fatalities 0
departed for Memphis at 08:32.[1]:1 The departure from Oakland and cruise
Injuries 2 (Minor)
between Oakland and Memphis were uneventful.[1]:2
Survivors 7 (all)
The flight touched down at about 12:26 on runway 36R, and almost immediately
the right landing gear collapsed. The plane veered off the right side of the runway, catching fire as it did so. The co-pilot received
minor injuries as she evacuated the aircraft, as did one of the five non-revenue FedEx pilots who were on board as passengers. It was
later discovered that the non-revenue pilot who activated the slide for the emergency exit had not been adequately trained in its
operation, and so accidentally pulled the handle that released the slide as a raft in the event of a landing on water, so that the slide
detached from the airplane.[3]
Investigation
The NTSB conducted a full investigation of the accident. It found that although the aircraft had encountered a crosswind during
landing, the conditions were well within the safe capabilities of the aircraft. However, it was discovered that the first officer did not
properly line up the plane before touchdown, nor did she slow the plane adequately before touchdown, so that the plane came down
excessively hard. As the plane came down, due to the crosswind, the right wing suddenly lowered approximately six degrees. This
was beyond the design capabilities for the right main landing gear, and it snapped as a result. The NTSB also cited the captain for
failing to check the work of the first officer.[4][5][6]

The NTSB further found that FAA Order 8400.10 (Air Transportation Aviation Inspector's Handbook) was deficient in the section
.[6]
addressing assurance of evacuation training for the flight crew

References
1. "Hard Landing, Gear Collapse Federal Express Flight 647 Boeing MD-10-10F , N364FE Memphis, Tennessee
December 18, 2003" (http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR0501.pdf)(PDF). National
Transportation Safety Board. May 17, 2005. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
2. "FedEx on for busiest night; crash inquiry continues"(http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/stories/2003/12/22/daily5.
html). Memphis Business Journal. December 22, 2003. Retrieved December 8, 2010.
3. Frances Fiorino (May 22, 2005)."FedEx Crash Highlights Need to Correct Performance Deficiencies"(http://www.avi
ationweek.com/aw/generic/story_generic.jsp?channel=awst&id=news/05235p08.xml) . Aviation Week & Space
Technology. Retrieved December 8, 2010.
4. "Accident Description" (http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20031218-0). Aviation Safety Network. May
18, 2005. Retrieved December 9, 2010.
5. "Brief of Accident" (http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?id=DCA04MA011&rpt=fi). U.S. National Transportation
Safety Board. June 2, 2005. Retrieved December 9, 2010.
6. "Factual Report" (http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?id=DCA04MA011&rpt=fa). U.S. National Transportation
Safety Board. May 20, 2005. Retrieved December 9, 2010.

Further reading
Bangash, M. Y. H. (2008). Shock, Impact and Explosion: Structural Analysis and Design
. Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
ISBN 978-3-540-77067-1.

External links
NTSB Report
NTSB Simulation Video
Cockpit Voice Recorder transcript and accident summary

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