The aircraft was a McDonnell Douglas MD-10-10F airliner, built in 1972 as a DC-10 passenger aircraft and later converted to cargo configuration. It was delivered to FedEx in August 1997 and upgraded to an MD-10 in 2003. The aircraft was powered by three General Electric CF6-6D engines, and was 44 years old at the time of the accident. The captain, age 55, was hired as a flight engineer by FedEx in 2000, he previously served with the U.S. Air Force from 1982 to 2000 as an veteran of the Gulf War, Bosnian War, and Kosovo War. At the company, he worked in the Boeing 727 as a flight engineer, a first officer, and a captain, as well as a captain on the MD-11. He had a total flight time of about 10,000 hours and estimated about 1,500 hours in the MD-11. The first officer, age 47, was hired as a flight instructor by FedEx in 2004, he previously served with the U.S. Air Force from 1990 to 2004 as an veteran of the Gulf War, Bosnian War, and Kosovo War. In 2007, he became a flight engineer in the Boeing 727 and became a first officer in the MD-11 in 2012. He estimated a total flight time of 6,000 to 6,300 hours, with about 4,000 hours as pilot-incommand. He estimated a total time of about 400 to 500 hours in the MD-11.
Accident
FedEx 910 landed on Fort Lauderdale's runway 10L at 17:50 local time. The tower reported the left side CF6 engine appeared on fire. The aircraft came to a stop about 2,000 meters down the runway and beyond the left edge with the left main gear collapsed and the left wing on fire. The airport closed all runways while emergency services responded to put the fire out. The two crew members had no injuries, but the aircraft received substantial damage. The National Transportation Safety Board dispatched five investigators on site and opened an investigation. On October 31, the NTSB reported that the left main gear failed after landing and during rollout. The left engine and left wing scraped the runway and the aircraft veered to the left and came to a stop partially off the runway. Both flight crew members escaped through the right cockpit window using an escape rope. No injuries were reported. Cockpit voice and flight data recorders were taken to the NTSB lab in Washington for analysis. Following an examination of the runway, the NTSB returned control of the runway to the Fort Lauderdale Airport.
Investigation
On August 23, 2018 the NTSB reported that "the failure of the left main gear was the result of a metal fatigue crack that initiated within the gear," and cited FedEx's failure to overhaul the gear at the manufacturer-recommended eight-year interval as a contributor to the crash.
