On 28 November 2009, at 08:12 (UTC+8), Avient Aviation Flight 324, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11F, registration Z-BAV (c/n 48408) operated by Avient Aviation departing Shanghai Pudong International Airport destined for Manas International Airport, near Bishkek, crashed during its takeoff roll with the loss of three lives.
Aircraft Avient Aviation took delivery of Z-BAV on 20 November 2009, eight days before the crash.
Incident As the aircraft rotated for departure, the tail struck the ground, and the aircraft then overshot the end of the runway, crashed and landed on top of a warehouse near the runway. The plane was written off.
Crew members were from the United States (4), Indonesia (1), Belgium (1) and Zimbabwe (1).
Investigation Official investigation reports have been difficult to acquire over the years; on 28 February 2020, an English translation of a "brief abstract" of a Chinese investigation became publicly available. According to this translated abstract, the thrust levers were never advanced to takeoff position, and the autothrust never transitioned to takeoff mode. The crew perceived through physical cues that thrust was abnormally low, but neither identified the problem nor took any corrective action. Simulations seemed to indicate that with timely corrective action, recovery and prevention of the accident was possible. Fatigue was suspected to be a contributing factor for all crew members, many suffering jetlag from lengthy travel and numerous time zone transitions to position themselves for the accident flight.
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