Mcdonnell Douglas MD-11 incident near Atlanta, Georgia, November 9, 1998
On November 9, 1998 at about 2:00 am local time, a Mcdonnell Douglas MD-11, registered N811DE, suffered minor damage in an incident near Atlanta, Georgia (Hartsfield Atlanta Int'L). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 4 people were on board or involved. The weather was conditions the NTSB did not record.
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
Failure of the Company's maintenance personnel to follow the aircraft's maintenance manual which resulted in a cargo bin fire. Contributing to the severity of the incident was the failure of the mechanic to safety the circuit breaker, and the cut/severed electrical wiring.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- November 9, 1998 · about 2:00 am local time
- Place
- Atlanta, Georgia · Hartsfield Atlanta Int'L
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 4 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- conditions the NTSB did not record
- Aircraft
- Mcdonnell Douglas MD-11 · all MD-11s on the register
- Registration
- N811DE · no longer on the register · serial 48566
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
During the trip check, airport customer service personnel informed a mechanic that one of the center cargo bay longitudinal spring-lift power drive unit (PDU) powered rollers was inoperative and in the 'up' position. A mechanic, removed the powered rollers from the cargo compartment and did not have the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 Maintenance Manual in his possession at the time. The mechanic, did not open the circuit breaker for the cargo control unit (CCU) that controls the operation of the powered rollers, nor did he tag the system out of service as stipulated in the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 Maintenance Manual. While the mechanic was away from the airplane obtaining a new powered roller, the airport customer service had a crew change. The new crew, unaware that the powered roller cannon plug had been left on the floor of the cargo compartment, began loading cargo bins. The cannon plug was run over and its connecting wires cut by the cargo bins. A Delta technician started the airplane's auxiliary power unit (APU) to provide electrical power to the airplane. Other Delta technicians who were servicing the cabin observed smoke and 4 to 6 inch flames behind a floor vent of the main passenger cabin at row 12. The fire was subsequently extinguished.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Medical certificate: Unknown
- Seat: unk
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 23,781 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, November 8, 1998; 0 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 625,500 lb
- Seats: 262
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: P&W 4460/4000 (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
- Operator: Delta Air Lines INC.
The flight
- Flight plan: not recorded
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: not reported
- Sky: not recorded; not recorded
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 4 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under N811DE the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.