08 July 2008

MD-80 "Death Trap" Takes a Shot at Obama



The US National Transportation Safety Board is investigating why a Midwest Airlines Boeing MD-80 carrying Senator Barack Obama was forced to make an emergency landing today.

The crew of the chartered aircraft earlier today diverted to St. Louis, Missouri, during a flight from Chicago, Illinois, to Charlotte, North Carolina, due to a suspected flight control anomaly.


While diverting around a thunderstorm, the crew reported heavier that normal loads on the elevator. MD-80 crews are currently trained to divert immediately when they encounter problems with the elevator controls.

Elevator failure was the primary cause of the crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 in 2000.


Upon landing it was discovered that the aft emergency slide deployed in flight!


Example of slide deployment.

The Obama Campaign switched to a different MD-80.

Related posts about problems with the MD-80.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Haha ... great post title. It certainly does seem like fate took a swipe at the great and powerful "O" I mean, have you ever heard of an emergency slide deploying mid-flight? Betcha Michelle is bugging him about getting some insurance policies updated.