A delta aircraft veered off the runway at Dublin airport this morning.All crew and pax are safe the airport was closed for 50 mins approx.This is all the info i have at the moment.EI133

Strong winds were to blame. All 219 on board unharmed.

was it a 767

No, it was an MD11; Delta's 767s only carry 195; the M11s carry around 248. DL has been using M11s to DUB since around October; it's quite a busy route for them as Americans, being discerning people, like visiting Ireland. I travelled this route around this time last year and it was full in both directions.

Aircraft concerned is N 803DE

How far of the runway ???

I just saw footage of it on TV. They had some passengers talking about it.A lot of flights into Dublin are being diverted to Shannon because of crosswinds here.

There have also been some diversions to Cork. EI035 which was inbound to Dublin from Cork diverted back to Cork. Also, EI223 & EI263 have also arrived at Cork. I think the problem is that R/W 16 has been in use at Dublin and with the very strong winds some flights have been out of limits for landing.

hkgspotter, I heard a figure of 600 yards mentioned, which is quite an excursion!

from what i heard and read on cbs.com was that it was around 50 feet. now if that is accurate then that is rather short. if it was the 600 yds then that would be a litlle extreme.

Those MD-11's don't do well in crosswinds. Scary. How many MD-11's have been lost in crosswinds? Mandarin in HKG comes to mind. Can't remember the others. I don't think the FedEx MD-11 lost in EWR was due to crosswinds though, but not sure.

Pics:

All the pics are courtesy of Martin O'Connell.

Was this Delta aircraft arriving or departing DUB and what was the route/flight number?Thanks.

The flight was landing. Wind is causing havoc at DUB today.

From the Irish Times:

Winds of 65 miles per hour have grounded some flights at Dublin Airport today. A spokesman at the airport told ireland.com "There is a runway open if planes want to take off. Some are taking off, some are choosing not to".

The Aer Lingus flight from Boston has been diverted to Shannon and the Air Arran flight to Donegal has been cancelled.

The airport had been close for 50 minutes earlier today due to an incident with a Delta Airlines plane.

A airport spokesman confirmed that Delta flight 129 went off the runway and veered on to a grass margin after landing at 8.04 a.m. this morning.

The plane, which originated from Atlanta, USA, is about 500 metres away from the runway.

Ms Siobhán Scanlan of Delta Airlines said that there had been no injuries. "All the passengers and crew are now safely off the aircraft," she said.

She said that the conditions at the airport at the time of the incident were rainy and gusty and that there would be an investigation. "All incidents are investigated," she said.

The airport re-opened shortly after 9.30 a.m.

Thank you Greenjet.

Am I missing something here...the captions to Martin O'Connell's pics of the DL Mad Dog (Mud Dog??) refer to severe damage to the port engine.
Maybe I'm overlooking something obvious....but I see no evidence of severe damage from any of these pics. A filthy, muddy mess indeed, and I wouldn't be suprised if some turbine blades are damaged from the ingestion of so much wet earth....but I see nothing to indicate "serious" damage.

Will be curious to see how long that bird stays in DUB. Going to be quite a project to get her out of the muck and back into the skies again...

All info greatly appreciated....

I said severe damage because looking at it head on the amount of muck and debris that actually WENT IN to the engine is something else. I wasnt able to get a head on shot but believe me, the engine is a right mess.

I hope that has cleared it up for you mate

Martin

Same happend at AMS/SPL for like a year ago... also DL MD11...

I checked in at SNN this morning to fly on the tag-on Boston-Shannon-Dublin flight, boarded a practically empty A330 EI-JFK at 8am, we were on board, de-iced, and then told the news, then we disembarked.

At about 11.50 I was transferred to the Shannon-Dublin-Los Angeles flight EI145, along with all inbound Chicago passengers for Dublin, that was EI-DAA A330-200. We were on board that flight (completely full i would say) for about an hour, then we were de-planed and told the flight would not operate. We were all bussed to Dublin, where I arrived at 5.30. It took 10 hours to get from Shannon to Dublin with all these delays and false starts.

My EI (Bae 146) flight from Dublin to Shannon on Friday was cancelled too, so we were put on a groovy blue aircoach to Shannon. I was meant to arrive at 16:20, but arrived at 22:00 instead.

Hi:

Which are the damage of the MD-11?

Thanks,
RJ_Delta.

The jet veered off because of winds? Thats strange. THe wind would have to be really strong in order to make a jet veer off the RWY.

-Dmitry

55kt crosswinds plus a wet runway. Answer your question ?
Why does everyone doubt my comments on the photo !!!

I wonder what happened/will happen to the crew; the international crews, particularly on the M11 (being one of the largest types) would be very senior. Will it be taken as "one of those things", perhaps a slap on the wrist too, or might we be talking about early retirement?

An M11 was also involved in an incident at SNN at 18 months ago, involving a World M11 operating for EI; landed long and slid off. The M11 is a tricky beast!

Then there was also the Futura 738 that went off the runway at SNN last year due to strong crosswinds. Good old wet and windy Ireland  

Indeed yes, but from what I understand, Wellington NZ can be worse and more often! I saw some aviation videos from NZ and they were quite something!

Aer Lingus, what you say makes perfect sense. After posting my original message, I had myself some morning coffee and thought what a stupid comment I'd made. Obviously, the innards of a jet engine that sucks in that much muck is going to be in rough shape afterward, regardless of whether the engine nacelle shows direct signs of damage.

Guess I should have had my coffee first....
Ok, I'm done self-deprecating (unlike the captain of that MD-11, I suspect)

Nahh dont worry about it mate, happens to me too. Sure I woke up this morning and started chatting to one of my friends on MSN. It was only 5 mins later that he asked me what his name was and I realised I was talking to the wrong friend !

Cheers,
Martin

Wow, a cross counrty MD-11 !!

Terrible Incident... I also thought this was a B777 as they operates to Shannon.

Click for large version

Photo © Martin O'Connell

Click for large version

Photo © Martin O'Connell


baec777

How'd the pax get off the plane? Wouldn't the slides be used in this situation? Or did they already take the slides off and close the doors?

Now the offroad capabilities of the MD 11 have been tested. Disappointing considering its 56" tires and 15' ground clearance  

I said severe damage because looking at it head on the amount of muck and debris that actually WENT IN to the engine is something else. I wasnt able to get a head on shot but believe me, the engine is a right mess.

In the photos, I see mud spattered on top of the fuselage, it wouldn't suprise me if #2 engine was fodded out as well. I'll bet the inboard flaps on both sides are trashed among other things.

Most of what I see can just be washed off.

Delta's insurance carrier is going to be springing for two new powerplants though.

Doubt #2 got hurt and as long as they didn't drag the inboard flaps they should be ok. I doubt anything would have been thrown hard enough against them to puncture or severly dent them.

as long as they didn't drag the inboard flaps they should be ok. I doubt anything would have been thrown hard enough against them to puncture or severly dent them.

I guess it'll largely depend on the rock content of the soil. Those flaps usually take quite a beating from *normal* runway fod.

In my opinion, even the right wing engine could be ok.

Seems as if it did slide off the runway to the left side, while the front wheels should have been steered to the right.

Going thru mud with right aligned wheels should result in mud beeing thrown to the left, as you can see with a look at the dirty left wing.

Maybe the the other side of the MD11 is quite clear with only some mud on the bottom of the fuselage?

Has anyone seen the other side?

Servus,
Alex

What a mess.

I can now report that there is extensive damage to the a/c in the vicinity of the lower fuselage and wings.Trailing edge flaps are quite badly damaged as are the No1+3 engine nacelles both internally and externally, also the nose gear is twisted and will require replacement.

Info courtesy of the Irish Spotters E-Group

Wow. Sounds pretty bad. Might this bird be written off?

whats dl's op specs for crosswind landings??? 55kts seems way out of line---typical numbers are 25 kts need an alt/35kts is limit to attempt landing...

55kt gusts had been reported at points throughout the morning

As far as I know the Pax came off by steps and were bussed into the terminal building.EI133

A write-off? For a little mud????
Haha, a little exit from the runway into some mud rarely does more than require a hose down, engine and brake inspection. We had a NW 742 go off the end of the runway in ANC last year and it was absolutely burried in mud, no real damage though, it just LOOKED bad.

That Mandarin/China Airlines MD-11 in Hong Kong that flipped and crashed was landing in a TYPHOON, a couple notches above 55kt crosswind, more like 85-100kt crosswind, way above any airliners designed capability.

Yeah but that 747 went in straight ahead.

If this guy went in on the side you will have more twisting and yawing forces on the airframe. Those heavier damages estimates are believable but aren't apparent in the photograph.

Aircraft that have slid off the runway and in to mud and muck have been written off in the past, especially if it's the end of the runway they slide off of. Case in point and AirTran 737-200 that slid off the runway at ATL a few years back. A complete write off. It still sits at ATL between NW's MX hangar and South Cargo. As for Delta's MD-11, I was curious about which a/c it was. I actually have flown on that particular a/c back in 2000 from ATL-PDX.

Srbmod -- There is a huge difference between AirTran's 737-200 being written off and a Delta MD-11. The 737-200's were on their way out anyway. The MD-11 isn't something they will essentially throw away very easily. A 737-200 on the other hand....

For anyone interested. Ship 803 is back in ATL. It acutally looks to be in very good shape. The only repairs going on were the inboard L/H flap panel was getting a new skin. I'm sure work was done in DUB to get it home but considering it is only about a week later it couldn't have been that bad.

I heard they changed #1 and #3 engines in DUB. That would be a dream roadtrip. I haven't gone down to look at the plane but I also heard it wasn't very bad. I guess it still had clods of mud stuck in the gear wells. Some of the Irish descent guys on the crew were joking about going to collect samples of the homeland.