Wind Shear Alert Preceded FedEx Narita Crash

Bradley Perrett/Beijing perrett@aviationweek.com

Japanese meteorologists warned of a risk of wind shear at Tokyo's Narita Airport the night before a FedEx MD-11 crashed on landing this morning, killing the two crew members aboard.

Winds were reaching 72 km/h. (39 kt.) at the time of the accident, about 6:49 a.m. local time (21:49 GMT).

The aircraft crashed on the longer of Narita's two runways. A video shown on television shows that the aircraft's main gears touched down first but the nose then dropped heavily. The aircraft bounced and flipped over as flames exploded from the wing.

The local weather observatory issued a warning of wind shear after the weather became rough on Sunday evening, Kyodo News reports.

The aircraft was operating FedEx Flight 80 from Guangzhou in southern China. The crew members have been identified as captain Kevin Kylemosley, 54, and copilot Anthony Stephen-Pino, 49.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) dispatched a team of experts from Washington to help Japan with the investigation of the crash.

Japanese authorities will lead the investigation. The NTSB designated Senior Air Safety Investigator John Lovell as U.S. accredited representative. He is joined by two additional NTSB investigators, along with representatives from the FAA, Boeing and ALPA.

According to the NTSB, the aircraft burned after it came to rest. AviationWeek will provide updates as details unfold.

Photo credit: Kyodo