Overview
- The safety board scheduled a two-day investigative hearing in May in Washington, D.C., with a public livestream and participation limited to official parties.
- A UPS MD-11 crashed shortly after takeoff from Louisville when the left engine caught fire and detached, killing three crew members and 15 people on the ground.
- Preliminary NTSB findings cite fatigue cracks in the left pylon’s aft mount lugs, a fractured aft spherical bearing race, and areas of overstress failure that secure the engine to the wing.
- Boeing told operators in a 2011 service letter that it had seen bearing race fractures on MD-11s but did not consider the issue a safety‑of‑flight risk, according to reporting confirmed with service data.
- After the crash, UPS and the FAA grounded MD-11s as a precaution, and UPS has since retired the aircraft type from its fleet.