Summary
- The MD-11 has overly sensitive controls due to a smaller tail, leading to difficulty handling the aircraft.
- The aircraft involved in the UPS incident is 26 years old and joined the UPS fleet in 2006.
- The crew declared an emergency due to flight control issues and safely returned to OAK after only 18 minutes in the air.
On Friday, May 10th, a United Parcel Service (UPS) freight carrier destined for Ontario, Canada, returned to its departure airport after the crew declared an emergency due to mechanical issues.
Simple Flying has reached out to UPS for more information about the incident.
The incident
According to the Aviation Herald, the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 (registration number N284UP) operated flight 5X-2949. The cargo carrier’s daily scheduled flight is from Metro Oakland International Airport (OAK) to Ontario International Airport (ONT).
With three crew members onboard, the aircraft took off from OAK’s runway 30 at 06:33 PDT and continued climbing to 4,000 ft. After that, the pilots reported in and declared an emergency, wishing to return to OAK.
According to the pilots, the aircraft had flight control issues that were severe enough to dissuade them from continuing the flight. However, they did anticipate that they could vacate the runway and head to the apron without assistance.
The aircraft climbed to 4,000 ft in less than two minutes, after which the crew leveled off, declared the emergency, and began troubleshooting, planning to head back to OAK. The aircraft was at 4,000 ft for 11 minutes, then began a five-minute descent to its departure runway.
The aircraft landed safely and taxied back to the apron without the assistance of emergency services. The MD-11 was only airborne for a total of 18 minutes.
The aircraft
According to Ch Aviation, the aircraft is model MD-11F(AH) and is 26.41 years old. The aircraft was ordered by Swissair in 1996 and was delivered to the European carrier in December 1997.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
It changed hands twice before being added to the UPS fleet in January 2006, where it has remained in service since. The aircraft’s minimum retirement date is June 2024.
The aircraft was able to depart OAK 13 hours after landing and reached its destination in Ontario after a delay of 13 and a half hours.
Overly sensitive controls
The MD-11 is a tri-jet widebody aircraft introduced in 1990. It was produced from 1998 to 2000, and only 200 were made during this limited run. The reason the aircraft was a commercial failure is because it failed to meet range and fuel efficiency requirements. The aircraft is used mainly by cargo operators today.
Photo: UPS
The MD-11 is infamous for its overly sensitive controls, which resulted from the manufacturer cutting down the size of the aircraft’s horizontal stabilizer by 12 feet to reduce weight and drag. The change was made because of the aircraft poor performance.
Due to the abnormally small tail, the aircraft is equipped with software to augment the handling characteristics, which has led to the controls being overly sensitive. Many pilots have gone on record and spoken about the poor control characteristics and difficulty handling the aircraft.
According to the Aviation Safety Network, as of March 2024, the aircraft has been involved in 49 incidents, 10 of which resulted in complete hull losses.
Related
The Rise And Fall Of The McDonnell Douglas MD-11