Incident Overview
On 23 March 2010, a McDonnell-Douglas MD-11F cargo aircraft, registration N612FE, operated by FedEx Express as flight FDX3 from Dubai International Airport to Paris Charles de Gaulle, experienced a fuel indication anomaly while cruising in Hungarian airspace. The crew observed a 'Level 2' and 'Tank 2 Quantity Low' caution along with the Master Caution. The fuel quantity display indicated only 15,300 pounds remaining, whereas calculations showed approximately 60,000 pounds should have been onboard. The aircraft had departed with 168,500 pounds of fuel and consumed about 108,000 pounds since takeoff.
The commander, unable to reconcile the discrepancy, recalled the first officer from rest. The backup first officer maintained communication with FedEx operations. Attempts to switch fuel control to manual and to the backup fuel control unit yielded no change in displayed values. The crew also received a 'Do Not Use Cross Feed System' message, preventing them from feeding all three engines from the tail tank.
Emergency Declaration and Landing
With about 110 nautical miles to Budapest Ferihegy International Airport, the commander declared a MAYDAY and requested clearance to land there. The aircraft descended from FL200 under radar vectoring and performed an overweight landing on runway 31R at 14:36 UTC. No personal injuries occurred, and the aircraft was not damaged during the landing. However, braking caused two wheels of the left main landing gear to reach temperatures of 400–500°C, though no overheat warning activated. After landing, the fuel display system gradually recovered, eventually showing 58,800 pounds—close to the calculated amount.
Post-Landing Actions
The aircraft taxied to parking position 18. Airport firefighters used thermal imaging to detect high temperatures on the left main landing gear and applied intensive cooling. The emergency was cancelled at 15:25 UTC. The crew documented the fuel discrepancy and the overweight landing in the aircraft maintenance log. The actual landing weight was 505,700 pounds, exceeding the planned maximum of 481,500 pounds.
Investigation
The Transportation Safety Bureau (TSB) of Hungary investigated the serious incident. The operator provided flight data recorder information and an internal report. No safety recommendations were issued. The investigation did not identify a probable cause for the fuel indication anomaly.