Videos: All the NTSB media briefings on the crash of UPS Airbus A300-600F at Birmingham, Alabama, USA

The United States National Transportation Safety Board which is investigating the fatal crash of a UPS flight 5X-1354, an Airbus A300-600 aircraft registration N155UP at Birmingham, Alabama, USA, on August 14, 2013, held four briefings for the media. Below are the videos of the briefings all together for your continuous viewing.

UPS Airbus A300-600F freighter registration N162UP approaches Boston Logan Airport in rainy weather

For an in-depth report of the crash, we recommend Simon Hradecky's Aviation Herald.

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UAE GCAA releases preliminary information in UPS Boeing 747-400F N571UP crash at Dubai

The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has released preliminary information on the crash of UPS Airlines Boeing 747-400F freighter registration N571UP at Dubai on September 3, 2010. In parallel UPS has released a statement identifying the two crew who perished in this crash.

GCAA Announces the Preliminary Report on the ACCIDENT INVOLVING UPS6 Boeing 747 – 400 on 3rd September, 2010

Category : GCAA, Date : Sep, 05 2010

The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), announced today the preliminary report on the fatal accident of Boeing 747 - 400 Cargo airplane on 3rd September 2010.

The UPS6 B744 had departed from Dubai International Airport at 14:53 UTC (6:53pm local time) headed to Koln-Bonn (Cologne) - Germany. At 15:15 UTC (7:15pm local time) information was received from Bahrain that the aircraft was returning to Dubai Airport with a smoke in the cockpit, unable to maintain altitude and requested the airport for landing.

The UAE ATC Centre issued a clearance when aircraft was approximately 40 kilometer from touchdown. The aircraft was high on the approach and was at 8500ft at 24 kilometer from touchdown. It passed the overhead the airfield very high and made a right turn. Position reports were passed the tower as well as advising that all runways were available for the aircraft to land on. The aircraft tracked south west and rapidly lost altitude. At approximately 15:42 UTC (7:42pm local time), radar contact was lost. The B744 crashed in in an unpopulated area between the Emirates Road and Al Ain Highway after 50 minutes from departure and after returning back from Bahrain FIR (Flight Information Region).

The GCAA responded by launching an immediate investigation team who are currently on site collecting evidence, analyzing the initial onsite evidence, coordinating with all of the emergency services to secure the accident site, liaising with the aircraft manufacturer technical specialists and international accident investigation bodies who have invited to assist the GCAA onsite in the UAE under the provisions of ICAO Annex 13.

The investigation team recovered the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) approximately 6 hours after the accident; the onsite GCAA investigation team is continuing the recovery effort to locate the Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR), while investigating the aircraft structure, systems, engines and flight controls as part of the forensic evidence collecting and data capturing activities associated with major air accident investigation.

A team from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will arrive to UAE today to assist the GCAA team in the crash investigation.

Coordination activities with the regional (ANS) is also continuing in the retrieval of important communications and flight planning material crucial to the successful conclusion of this investigation.

The UPS statement identifies the two dead crew members and provides technical details on the airframe.

Atlanta, September 04, 2010

A UPS cargo plane has been involved in an accident in Dubai.

Updated 4:15 PM EDT (20:15 UTC)

At the request of the families, UPS can now confirm that two of our crewmembers, Captain Doug Lampe of Louisville, Kentucky, and First Officer Matthew Bell of Sanford, Florida, lost their lives in the crash of Flight 6 yesterday, Sept. 3, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The two pilots were flying a 747-400 en route to Cologne, Germany, when it crashed near Dubai International Airport shortly after takeoff.

"This is a terrible tragedy, and all of us at UPS extend our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of both of these crewmembers," said UPS CEO Scott Davis. "Our thoughts and prayers will continue to be with them during this difficult time."
The UPS Family Assistance Team is working with the victims' families to help them in their time of need.

Captain Lampe, 48, has been with UPS since 1995. First Officer Bell, 38, has been with UPS since 2006. Both crewmembers flew out of UPS's Anchorage, Alaska domicile, or pilot base.

The aircraft, tail number N571UP, was just three years old, entering UPS service off the Boeing production line in September 2007. The airframe had flown 9977 hours, completing 1764 takeoffs and landings. It was up to date on all maintenance, having just completed a major inspection in June 2010.

UPS owns 12 747-400s, eight of which are new, and four of which have been purchased from other carriers and adapted for UPS use. The aircraft, which has a payload capacity of nearly 258,600 pounds, is used on long-range international routes, such as the regular Dubai-Cologne routing.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is dispatching an aviation investigation team to assist the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) of the United Arab Emirates in the crash investigation. The GCAA will take the lead on the investigation and release all information on the progress of the investigation.

NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman has designated senior air safety investigator Bill English as the U.S. accredited representative. His team will include NTSB specialists in the areas of human performance, fire, operations and systems. The team will also include technical advisors from the FAA, Boeing, UPS, GE and the Independent Pilots Association.

A UPS team has arrived in Dubai at this time and will cooperate with authorities in the investigation.

"We established an internal command center within minutes of learning of this tragedy. It will be staffed around the clock with experts from every part of our operation," said UPS Airlines President Bob Lekites. "Safe, secure operations are our top priorities for our employees, our customers, and our public stakeholders."

Blue skies forever Captain Lampe and First Officer Bell, 38. RIP.

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UPS Boeing 744F N571UP crashes at Dubai, crew perish

News reports are coming in of a UPS Boeing 747-400 Freighter registration N571UP crashing at Dubai. UPS flight 5X-6 from Dubai, United Arab Emirates to Cologne, Germany crashed at Dubai around 20:00 local (16:00Z). The company has released a statement (read below the fold).

As per Avherald,

A UPS Boeing 747-400, registration N571UP, was on approach to Dubai's runway 30L, declared emergency and veered off course crashing onto a free space west of Dubai Silicon Oasis and Al-Ain Highway (E66), about half way between Emirates Road (E311) and road E611. Both crew perished in the crash.

I just spotted the next serial registration Boeing 747-400 Freighter N572UP at Mumbai earlier this morning, before returning to Bangalore.

UPS has released this statement

Atlanta, September 03, 2010

A UPS cargo plane has been involved in an accident in Dubai.

At approximately 12 p.m. EST, UPS Flight 6 from Dubai, UAE, to Cologne, DE, a 747-400 with two crew-members on board crashed on take-off. At this time, we have not confirmed any casualties.

"Safety is a key priority for UPS," said Airline & International Operations Manager Bob Lekites. "This incident is very unfortunate and we will do everything we can to find the cause," said Lekites. "Our thoughts go out to the crewmembers involved in the incident and their families."

"We will also release more information as it becomes available, in cooperation with government authorities. We will not speculate about the cause. Until then, we ask for your patience in this difficult time."

Reuters is confirming recovery of the two bodies from the crash site.

N571UP was a relatively new aircraft. A Boeing 747-44AF (4A is UPS's customer code with Boeing), it's construction number is 35668. It was delivered to UPS less than three years ago this month on September 27, 2007.

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Spotting images: Boeing and Russian freighters

Thanks to a technology based economy (sorry world, but Bangalore is a lot more than just BPO outsourcing), Bangalore has always been a preferred destination for air cargo.

Bio-technology, electronics, aviation, pharmaceuticals, high-end precision engineering, floriculture, fresh produce, and the outsourcing industry which buys tons of imported computers, ensure that Bangalore is the leading hub for air cargo in Southern India, ahead of Chennai and Hyderabad, and third behind Mumbai (the economic capital of India) and the national capital New Delhi.

As the Asian economies recover and lead the world back from the economic slowdown, a few pictures of some cargo beauties from Bangalore and Mumbai for your pleasure. Click on any image for a high resolution view.

Volga Dnepr Airlines. Ilyushin IL-76TD Vladimir Kokkinaki RA-76950
United Parcel Service Boeing MD-11F N293UP
United Parcel Service Boeing 767-300F (Extended Range) N302UP
Blue Dart Aviation Boeing 757-200PCF (Passenger Converted Freighter) VT-BDM
Blue Dart Aviation Boeing 737-200 Passenger Converted Freighter VT-BDG
One of the biggest in the sky. Volga Dnepr Airlines Antonov An-124-100 Ruslan RA-82081. Put in perspective the people working on the taxiway in the background.

Photo used with permission.

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UPS releases Mobile app for iPhone

UPS has released an iPhone based application for tracking and managing shipments on the road.

The UPS Mobile App for iPhone offers the following features.

• Track - See recent tracks and assign shipment nicknames, when you log-in with your My UPS ID. Or track by number with no log-in required.
• Ship - Log-in with your My UPS ID to access address book, payment info, and other preferences from ups.com. Create shipping labels, then email, and print.
• Location - Find the nearest UPS service locations, powered by the iPhone's GPS.
• Quote - Estimate shipment costs and delivery times.

For shipping and advanced tracking features a My UPS ID login is required. The ID is only available at the main UPS site and not on the iPhone app.

The UPS Mobile App works with iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch® devices running 3.0 software or later. The UPS Mobile App can be used over voice or Wi-Fi connections.

For non iPhone users, UPS has a light weight mobile site.

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UPS mistakenly delivers 30 pounds of marijuana

We all curse the express companies for wrong deliveries, but this story near my home-town in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, sure had me in stitches. Happy new year!!!!!

UPS delivers, but not always to the right address, a Denton man discovered Monday when he found a lot of green inside a package dropped on his porch by the men in brown.

The man took the package to Denton police later that night, police spokesman Officer Ryan Grelle said. It contained a 30-pound brick of compressed marijuana with a street value of $10,500.

UPS mistakenly delivered it to the Denton house about 8 p.m., Grelle said. The resident was not at home at the time and opened it when he returned.

“He was expecting tools that he had ordered from Sears,” Grelle said. “He opened it up and thought, ‘Oh my.’ He loaded it up and brought it to the police department.”

Grelle said the package, which apparently came from Pharr, Texas and was handled by a UPS branch in McAllen on Jan. 6, wasn’t addressed to the Denton man whose porch it landed. It carried an address in Dallas. But there was no such address in Dallas, so someone at the package delivery service decided it must be meant for a similar address in Denton, the officer said.

The case is still under investigation.

Read the full story here.

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