Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Amazing Video Of An MD-80 Hitting The Runway A Bit Too Hard

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 10-30-2004, 05:40 AM:

Actually the entire site is pretty interesting but this video in particuluar says it all. These guys definately musta been smoking some of thet I-40 stuff.....

MPEG File - 1.59 MB

[ 10-30-2004, 03:43 PM: Message edited by: Joe Redifer ]

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 10-30-2004, 09:22 PM:

Looks staged (i.e., intentional), for a test or something. Camera was there following it all along, and not like it was a surprise. [EDIT] Oh, are you talking about the website, when you said "guys"?

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 10-30-2004, 09:43 PM:

If you watch the Elevator closely it looks like it dips down and then goes right back up really fast just before it drops to the runway. So it could have been intentional but sure was a dangerous test if it was that. The site said that it was a test flight of the MD-80 after repairs were done(yea right). It happened at Edwards AFB. There are more videos like this at....
www.airdisaster.com

Mark

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 10-30-2004, 10:05 PM:

That video is pretty famous in airline circles. The aircraft shown was the #1 prototype for the DC-9-80 "Super 80", later to be known as the MD-80 series.

This was one of the certification landings being flown in 1980 by a McD test pilot at Edwards AFB. They were testing to determine the minimum stopping distance, which meant flying at minimum approach speed and maximum sink rate (about 700 fpm) to touchdown, followed by full aerodynamic and wheel braking. Basically the video shows what amounts to a total pilot screwup--he flew an unstabilized approach and let the sink rate get way too high right at the bottom. The ship touched down at a vertical rate beyond what even Navy carrier-certified aircraft are required to withstand. Not only did the tail come off, but you can see the fuselage flex and fail forward of the wing, plus the nose gear tires failed. One of the engineers on board broke an ankle--the other six people on board were not injured. This aircraft was eventually repaired and returned to service.

Link to a pdf of the final NTSB report here.

The #2 prototype also got crunched during rejected takeoff testing at Yuma MCAS. It ran off the end of the runway and suffered damage, including having the landing gear collapse. The airplane was totalled when the shoring for the crane they were using to lift it collapsed. The crane fell over and guillotined the fuselage, breaking the aircraft's back. Swissair was supposed to take delivery of that ship, but they refused it and the aircraft was subsequently written off.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 10-31-2004, 05:46 AM:

This thread is really cheering me up with a transatlantic flight in prospect the week after next... [thumbsup]

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 10-31-2004, 10:06 AM:

That is crazy! [Eek!]

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 11-02-2004, 03:13 AM:

Bah, the Douglas Death Tube is the third most successful jet airliner ever made at sales of over 2400 units, behind the Boeing 737 (over 5100) and Airbus A320 family (just under 3000).

Of course half of those 2400 were probably warranty replacements! [Big Grin]

quote:
That is crazy!

Double bah! The wings didn't even come off. Amateurs.

Posted by David Brooks (Member # 2789) on 11-02-2004, 02:06 PM:

Paul Mayer's report is correct. I worked for McDonnell Douglas back when that happened. Lots of long faces from the pilots [Eek!]

and made management [Mad]

. I remember the incident very well during the certification process for the MD80 (known then as the DC9-Super 80 (which is what American Airlines calls there aircraft today). A second accident occurred later when another development aircraft went off the runway at Yuma and got stuck. The crane lifting the plane up broke and fellow across the fuselage - another write off too!