Fire on engine #1 was catastrophic, real killer was the immediate compressor stall on #2 visible

The fire on engine #1 was catastrophic.. an uncontained failure that sent debris flying uncontrollably... but the real killer was the immediate compressor stall on #2, visible right here in the footage as that telltale puff of flame.

This almost certainly resulted from Foreign Object Debris (FOD) ingestion, where fragments from #1's explosion were sucked into #2's intake, disrupting airflow and surging the compressor blades. Watch the sudden yaw to the left post-stall: that's the asymmetric thrust kicking in, with only engine #3 (tail-mounted) left producing power. For a fully loaded MD-11 like UPS Flight 2976, heavy with cargo and fuel for its route, climbing out on a single engine was impossible..

performance data shows these birds need at least two for safe ascent under max takeoff weight.Pilots did everything by the book; ATC audio suggests they declared emergency instantly. No procedural tweak could've changed this outcome. RIP to the three lost on board, thoughts with the injured ground personnel.