Philadelphia Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Tuesady, February 7, 2006 23:59 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/2007/AAR0707.pdf. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-07/07. On February 7, 2006, about 2359 eastern standard time, United Parcel Service Company flight 1307, a McDonnell Douglas DC-8-71F, N748UP, landed at its destination airport, Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after a cargo smoke indication in the cockpit. The captain, first officer, and flight engineer evacuated the airplane after landing. The flight crewmembers sustained minor injuries, and the airplane and most of the cargo were destroyed by fire after landing. The scheduled cargo flight was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 on an instrument flight rules flight plan. Night visual conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

an in-flight cargo fire that initiated from an unknown source, which was most likely located within cargo container 12, 13, or 14. Contributing to the loss of the aircraft were the inadequate certification test requirements for smoke and fire detection systems and the lack of an on-board fire suppression system.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/7/2006
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 2359
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City Philadelphia
Event State PENNSYLVANIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site --
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator --
On Ground Collision occurred ? --
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport PHILADELPHIA INTL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID PHL
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport --
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2254 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID kphl
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Night
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 1
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 300
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.05
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 3
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 3
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 23034
NTSB Notification Source
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jan 31 2008 10:01AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N748UP
NTSB Number DCA06MA022
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 121: Air Carrier
Type of Flight Plan filed --
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire Ground and In-flight
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Douglas
Aircraft Model DC-8
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 45948
Certified Max Gross Weight 328000
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft --
Number of Engines 4
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Feb 1 2006 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 2
Airframe Hours 67676
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name UNITED PARCEL SERVICE CO
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City --
Aircraft Owner State --
Aircraft Owner Country --
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name UNITED PARCEL SERVICE CO
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City --
Operator State --
Operator Country --
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code IPXX
Owner has at least one certificate --
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not Non-scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Cargo
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) --
Second Pilot on Board --
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code ATL
Departure City ATLANTA
Departure State GA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 2241
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code PHL
Destination City PHILADELPHIA
Destination State PA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Feb 21 2008 4:18PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\HAMG
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight --
Air Medical Flight --
Medical Flight --