# National Air Cargo 747-400 crashes at Bagram AFB Afghanistan {April 30, 2013} **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 1, 2013, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-air-cargo-747-400-crashes-at-bagram-afb-afghanistan-april-30-2013/657167 "2013-05-01T01:53:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-air-cargo-747-400-crashes-at-bagram-afb-afghanistan-april-30-2013/657167/21 "2013-05-01T23:18:29Z")
My friend’s brother was not on that flight. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-air-cargo-747-400-crashes-at-bagram-afb-afghanistan-april-30-2013/657167/22 "2013-05-02T12:45:27Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > My friend’s brother was not on that flight. Great news! ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-air-cargo-747-400-crashes-at-bagram-afb-afghanistan-april-30-2013/657167/23 "2013-05-02T13:36:14Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Just before that he quietly whispers “oh fuck” as he pulls over apparently to turn around. Really, what else to be said? Honestly, it sounds like the “oh fuck” is because the road is blocked and he can’t get where he wants to go. It’s long after the impact and after he tries to maneuver through the stopped traffic and make a 3-point turn. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-air-cargo-747-400-crashes-at-bagram-afb-afghanistan-april-30-2013/657167/24 "2013-05-02T18:22:44Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Honestly, it sounds like the “oh fuck” is because the road is blocked and he can’t get where he wants to go. It’s long after the impact and after he tries to maneuver through the stopped traffic and make a 3-point turn. I disagree. The “aw fuck” done with him looking at the burning wreckage. There doesn’t appear to be any problems with him maneuvering. He originally was going to turn around but ends up going to the crash which probably wasn’t the best course of action. The crew is assuredly dead and there appear to be fuel trucks in the area. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2013, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-air-cargo-747-400-crashes-at-bagram-afb-afghanistan-april-30-2013/657167/25 "2013-05-19T19:04:27Z")
something to consider in the accident is the takeoff procedure. If the PIC power-braked it off the line then a 747-400 is capable of putting a significant G-load against the freight load. ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Corey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Carl\_Corey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Corey)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-air-cargo-747-400-crashes-at-bagram-afb-afghanistan-april-30-2013/657167/26 "2013-05-19T19:27:50Z")
What does that mean? That poor crew. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-air-cargo-747-400-crashes-at-bagram-afb-afghanistan-april-30-2013/657167/27 "2013-05-20T02:58:41Z")
> [@Carl\_Corey](#): > > What does that mean? If you’re referring to **Magiver** ’s last post, IUIC it would be that if the takeoff was done in such a manner as to have intense acceleration right off the line then you’d be making the cargo experience more G’s even before going into the climb. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-air-cargo-747-400-crashes-at-bagram-afb-afghanistan-april-30-2013/657167/28 "2013-05-20T03:28:17Z")
Yes, that’s what I meant. I’m parroting this second hand but I’ve been told a 747-400 can launch fairly hard if the brakes are held and the engines run up. It’s natural to want to get as high as possible as quickly as possible out of that airport to avoid being fired upon. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2024, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-air-cargo-747-400-crashes-at-bagram-afb-afghanistan-april-30-2013/657167/29 "2024-03-05T05:11:43Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/nW-QlFTjRiU/maxresdefault.jpg "SHOCKING Cargo Plane Disaster Occurs at the Busiest Airfield | Mayday Air Disaster") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW-QlFTjRiU) This was posted in another thread. The cargo shift theory was mostly correct but the cargo actually hit and broke the stabilizer hardware I’ve been youtube incompetent recently [moderator note - youtube link fixed] ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2024, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-air-cargo-747-400-crashes-at-bagram-afb-afghanistan-april-30-2013/657167/30 "2024-03-05T12:23:40Z")
Right. Of three major cargo-imbalance plant crashes — a B377 in 1987, a DC8 in 1997, and the Bagram 747 one — only the first was directly caused by a shift in cargo — and it was because the horses ran over to one side (or the back) of the hold! The second one was because the cargo was poorly distributed to begin with, and (as you noted) the third was because the shifting cargo destroyed control surface cables and hydraulic lines (though surely the mere aftward shift of those tanks would have made the plane challenging to fly). ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2024, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-air-cargo-747-400-crashes-at-bagram-afb-afghanistan-april-30-2013/657167/31 "2024-03-05T14:42:12Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > [moderator note - youtube link fixed] Thanks for the link. I like the Mayday series. I didn’t know they did one on this crash. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2024, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-air-cargo-747-400-crashes-at-bagram-afb-afghanistan-april-30-2013/657167/32 "2024-03-05T14:56:17Z")
Worse, the cargo broke the part that moved the flaps which controlled the nose angle ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-air-cargo-747-400-crashes-at-bagram-afb-afghanistan-april-30-2013/657167/33 "2024-03-06T10:25:24Z")
True. It’s rather like the American DC-10 crash in Chicago in 1979. It wasn’t because an engine fell off during takeoff – all commercial jets and pilots are designed and trained to handle that safely. It was because the departing engine cut through or ripped away hydraulic lines, making some control surfaces inoperable. (Actually, even this was probably survivable. The fatal flaw was the damaged or missing sensors made critical indicators useless to the pilots.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-air-cargo-747-400-crashes-at-bagram-afb-afghanistan-april-30-2013/657167.md?page=1)