MD-87 hits fence after takeoff from TME. All passengers survive the crash.

[flashcrash]

Houston plane crash: at least 2 injuries reported after plane crash in Waller County - CNN

"The information we have at this time indicates that the plane did not attain altitude at the end of the runway and went across Morton Road, coming to a rest in the field just north of the airport, where it caught on fire".

[3WE]

Didn’t see any noticeable tire tracks off the end of the runway.

Interesting plane and one heck of a post-crash fire.

[Guest]

Something positive is all passengers and crew members are alive and safe.

Soon we will discover what went wrong

[flashcrash]

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Interesting plane and one heck of a post-crash fire.

Agreed. Pretty amazing.

[Evan]

18 pax on board. I guess we can rule out being overweight. The last of the MD-87's rolled out of the factory in 1992, so it was no spring chicken. Aside from a second-life as air tankers, I think there are only a handful of these mini-maddogs left in service.

[3WE]

I read gossip that the pilot said the plane wouldn’t rotate, and gossip that this was the first flight of the aircraft in almost 18 months. (Edit: December 2020).

Also, of note. The plane was apparently carrying rich people going to the baseball playoffs.

Ban all baseball, or at least the DH.

[Gabriel]

Didn’t see any noticeable tire tracks off the end of the runway.

Interesting plane and one heck of a post-crash fire.

Where did you see the end of the runway?
I tried to find pictures / videos that have the plane and the runway to understand the relative location and orientation but I couldn't. I heard for example that the plane did not end up pointing in the direction it was moving so I don't even know where from the plane to start looking for drag marks.

[3WE]

Where did you see the end of the runway?

The day of the crash from one of the news choppers (TV station website). It was a still photo. Perhaps the link is elsewhere.

You could see it wasn’t a super duper wide runway and lacked the “count-down piano keys” at 500 ft intervals.

Disclaimer: Don’t want to say there were no tire tracks…but no OBVIOUS tire tracks/skid marks.

Update: I’m not finding the pic. A helicopter probably zoomed way back showing the runway and the plane (you know…BAD PHOTOGRAPHY…clutter, lighting, cropping, categories). Also, the news ratings gurus know that a close up of burning aluminum porn sells more ads than a loosely shot photo of a smoke plume and a runway…who needs useful facts?…bubble headed bleach blond comes on at 5:00…tell you ‘bout the plane crash with a gleam in her eye…

[Gabriel]

The day of the crash from one of the news choppers (TV station website). It was a still photo. Perhaps the link is elsewhere.

You could see it wasn’t a super duper wide runway and lacked the “count-down piano keys” at 500 ft intervals.

Disclaimer: Don’t want to say there were no tire tracks…but no OBVIOUS tire tracks/skid marks.

Update: I’m not finding the pic. A helicopter probably zoomed way back showing the runway and the plane (you know…BAD PHOTOGRAPHY…clutter, lighting, cropping, categories). Also, the news ratings gurus know that a close up of burning aluminum porn sells more ads than a loosely shot photo of a smoke plume and a runway…who needs useful facts?…bubble headed bleach blond comes on at 5:00…tell you ‘bout the plane crash with a gleam in her eye…

Ok, this is the footage I was wanting. Clear view of the plane and the runway end.... and quite obvious tire marks on the runway and a good way beyond probably up to the point where the plane spun around and the gear collapsed.

The plane was not flying, and it was braking (at least with the wheels, because the reversers are not deployed so a scenario of having the engines at full thrust but brakes applied unintentionally is still possible).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du6tgqA9R1Q

[3WE]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du6tgqA9R1Q

I hate watching that! But he will run through some data.

[Evan]

Ok, this is the footage I was wanting. Clear view of the plane and the runway end.... and quite obvious tire marks on the runway and a good way beyond probably up to the point where the plane spun around and the gear collapsed.

The plane was not flying, and it was braking (at least with the wheels, because the reversers are not deployed so a scenario of having the engines at full thrust but brakes applied unintentionally is still possible).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du6tgqA9R1Q

Would the grass be burned that far behind the #2 engine if it were at ground idle? I'm inclined to think this was not a proper reject performance. The puff of white smoke could be FOD (bird? loose or forgotton bolt?) but weird for a bird strike to happen when the a/c is barely rolling.

I love the retro-future aural alerts on the MD-87. Very video arcadesque. I wonder if they were still working on this one. The part 125 thing is very interesting. What sort of compliance structure do they have in place for it?

[Gabriel]

Would the grass be burned that far behind the #2 engine if it were at ground idle? I'm inclined to think this was not a proper reject performance.

There may be multiple explanations for that. Who know what happened with the control cables that go from the throttle levers to the engines, when the plane was damaged during the excursion. In the same way the lack of burn marks for #1 doesn't mean that the engine was not running during the late part of the roll. IT could have been damaged during the accident sequence, or the fuel lines could have been severed, or the pilots may have turned off the engines except it didn't work for #2 because of damage in the controls. And that we don't see reverser buckets deplyed doesn't mean either that they were not deployed during the reject sequence.

Of course, an improper reject technique is a possible explanation too.

Bottom line, not enough info.
Hopefully with both pilots alive, the aircraft destroyed by fire but probably with a good bunch of evidence out there, and the 2 flight recorders recovered, we will soon know more facts about the factual information.

[Guest]

If you crossed V1 and you discover it does not rotare at VR there is not too much to do. Reject and pray. Remaining runway can or can not be enough.This time was not enough

[Evan]

or the pilots may have turned off the engines except it didn't work for #2 because of damage in the controls.

Remind me again, what is the first pilot action during an RTO?

[Evan]

If you crossed V1 and you discover it does not rotare at VR there is not too much to do. Reject and pray. Remaining runway can or can not be enough.This time was not enough

If you are on a legal runway length, and Vr is a typical distance beyond V1, and you adhere to RTO procedure, you should not leave the runway surface the way this one did.