Cheney, dying: "Come on George, let's do one last one. Just for old times' sake."
this post was submitted on 04 Nov 2025
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Do we have any real planeheads here, any real runway freaks here who can tell me if 32 years (the crashed plane is 32 years old if search was right) is old for an airplane or airframe or whatever? were they flying a jalopy with wings? It's a McDonnell Douglas airplane and they haven't existed since the late 90s I think.
It’s old, but not egregiously old. It’s not uncommon for aircraft to be retired from passenger service and be used for freight. MD-11s were never really successful as a passenger plane because of their performance and handling. McDonnell Douglas eventually built them specifically for cargo in the mid-late 90s. I’m not sure if this specific plane was in service as a passenger plane or not though.
Thx. I knew MD planes were pretty old but this isn't Planely Speaking so I couldn't give specifics.
No prob. Now are you going to apologize for calling me a runway freak???
::data-laugh::
absolutely not
slaay runway freak
Looks like it was a passenger plane with Thai Airways (registration HS-TME) before UPS acquired/converted it
i'm 32 and can confirm it's the end of the line 
My first serious flying job was in a DC-3 for cargo ops (and I'm not 120 years old). This is a fairly normal age for cargo planes, and actually still within the possible range for passenger ops. If it's a mechanical issue it probably has to do more with the fact that it's a McDonnell Douglas than the fact that it's 32 years old.
Plane was doomed, that is simply not recoverable... explosive uncontained engine failure (including the entire engine literally detaching from the plane), possibly from runway debris, could cause catastrophic hydraulic damage and damage to control surfaces, looks like it may have taken out a second engine as well. Thrust from the right engine flips it over.
At max weight, you're too heavy, with only one engine. There's not enough runway to stop and not enough energy to fly. Intense fire burning up the left wing. Renders the aircraft completely unflyable. Sad to say, there's really nothing to be done at that point other than making peace with the end.
edit: [cw] close-up view https://imgur.com/a/uffNxdY
Love your aviation posts 
Just terrible the state of disrepair all of our infrastructure is in
The entire aviation infrastructure is held together with duct tape and glue. IT systems that haven't been inspected in 40 years, which is about the time it takes to update anything (if it's updated at all). The FAA still subscribes to Freudian psychology. Everyone lies on their medical exam because if you say you have ever been depressed at any point in your life you get disqualified unless you feel like going through a years-long expensive administrative battle that you probably won't win. The written exams still reference outdated concepts that were removed from textbooks 20 years ago, and the only way you would know the answer is by getting a copy of an out-of-print obscure government publication, or do what everyone else does and pay a company hundreds of dollars for their exam prep material and rote memorize the answers. They have been promising to update the questions for 20 years. You can't take your practical exams with the government, you have to go through a private contractor appointed by the local branches through nepotism. The examiners know each other and maintain artificial scarcity (there are 935 examiners in the entire country, however only 350 are generally available to the public, and you schedule a test by calling their personal number and hoping they pick up.) Right now it's about a 4 month wait for a test slot on average. Average is about $1000 per test (if you live in a busier area, can be $1500-$2000), and examiners can do 2 tests a day. They take cash and don't report it so it's tax-free income they get to milk from students (they are informally exempt from IRS audits because the FAA goes to bat for them).
The dough is stretched so thin it might as well be a window. And it's starting to rupture.
It gets to a point where it causes something and then it's too late to do anything. Pilot makes a mistake, pilot dies. Controller makes a mistake, pilot dies. Mechanic makes a mistake, pilot dies. Manufacturer makes a mistake, pilot dies. Company makes a mistake, pilot dies. When you sign the release you just have to take their word that they didn't fuck up.
Been seeing reports that the left engine completely detached on the takeoff roll? Concerningly similar to American Airlines Flight 191 (for the non runway freaks, the MD-11 is basically a beefed up/modernized/improved DC-10)**
To me, It looked more like an uncontained failure than a detachment. Notice how it doesnt roll or climb. 191 had the thrust to climb but was pushed over in roll and also made it higher before becoming unrecoverable. This didn't even make 200 feet.
A speculation may be that the components that feed fuel to the #2 motor may have been damaged in whatever caused the fire on the left wing, and (by my guestimation) pretty certain a single engine is not enough to maintain climb when youre full of cargo and fuel.
The link posted by bigpharma seems to show a white thing left on the runway, but I cant tell what it is. Could be an engine.
This looks like the aftermath of a forest fire.
This page has a video of the initial crash:
https://www.wlky.com/article/plane-crash-explosion-louisville-airport/69255042