McDonnell Douglas MD 11F N584FE

Summary

On 24 February 2015 at about 12:16 local time, a McDonnell Douglas MD 11F registered N584FE, operated by Federal Express Corp, was involved in an accident near St. Louis, Missouri, United States. 4 people were on board and one was seriously injured. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

24 February 2015 at 12:16

Classification

Accident

Location

St. Louis, Missouri, United States

Nearest airport

Lambert-St Louis International (KSTL)

Coordinates

38.0000, -90.0000

Aircraft

McDonnell Douglas MD 11F

Registration

N584FE

Category

Airplane

Year built

1992

Engines

3

Operator

Federal Express Corp

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Memphis → Minneapolis

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

VMC

Light

Dawn

NTSB number

DCA15FA073

1 person was seriously injured.

a partial inflation of the 1L escape slide/raft due to undetermined reasons resulting in insufficient capability to support the weight of the crewmember.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

During cruise flight, the crew received a fire warning from the cargo compartment indicating that the fire suppression system had activated, along with hearing loud sounds from the cargo compartment.  The flight crew elected to divert to St. Louis.  Although the activation of the fire suppression was a false alarm, the decision to divert was prudent and correct.  During the approach the crew made the decision to evacuate the airplane after landing, briefed the passengers in the courier area, and reviewed the evacuation checklist in the Quick Reference Handbook (QRH).  The diversion and subsequent landing were performed without issue.  After exiting the runway, and bringing the airplane to a stop in a safe area, the crew initiated an emergency evacuation using the left forward door (1L).  The door opened, however, the 1L escape slide/raft did not fully deploy, appearing to be hung up on a strap.  The first officer attempted to free it and the fire/rescue crew pulled on the slide and it appeared to inflate.  However, because the slide inflation sequence had been interrupted, it was significantly underinflated and unable to support the weight of the crewmember, resulting in a serious injury.  Post-incident examination of the 1L slide/raft was unable to determine the causes for the slide/raft to not inflate to full extension.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.