The crew’s original aircraft was grounded after the ill-fated UPS cargo plane was forced into service due to a fuel leak, newly released NTSB documents show.
WASHINGTON — Federal security investigators held two days of hearings Tuesday to examine why The engine flew away There was a UPS cargo plane last year. Car accident that killed 15 peopleand why Boeing didn’t address potential flaws earlier.
In November, the engine separated from the wing of an MD-11 as it accelerated on the runway at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. Death in car accident three pilots on the plane and 12 people on the ground. More people were injured.
“Please know this: Your loved ones are the reason we are here. We want to know what happened,” National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Jennifer Homendy told families in her opening remarks.
Separately, more details are emerging as the NTSB releases more than 2,000 pages of documents related to the disaster. Investigators say the crew of the ill-fated plane, which was forced into service after the original aircraft was grounded due to a fuel leak, had good-natured banter with the maintenance team during a second preflight inspection about “seeing each other again” soon.
The hearing, held at NTSB headquarters in Washington, involved multiple rounds of questions and answers from board members, investigators and representatives from Boeing, UPS, the machinists union and other parties. The National Transportation Safety Board’s final report likely won’t be ready until more than a year after the crash as it takes into account all potential factors.
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The UPS plane, laden with packages and fuel bound for Hawaii, had just left the ground and cleared the airport fence when it struck several businesses near Louisville, creating a huge fireball.
Dramatic photos released by the National Transportation Safety Board after the crash showed the engine detaching and flying over the wing, which was on fire. The final images showed the plane catching fire as it briefly took off, leaving behind a thick plume of smoke.
Following the accident, all MD-11s and DC-10s (predecessor aircraft) were grounded. NTSB investigators said Tuesday that similar component defects were found on three other UPS aircraft and a DC-10.
The disaster in Louisville was reminiscent of the 1979 DC-10 crash in Chicago. In that accident, the left engine also fell off, killing 273 people and causing the grounding of 274 DC-10s worldwide.
The airliner returned to the skies after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that maintenance crews damaged the crashed plane by improperly using a forklift when reinstalling the engine. This means that although there have been a number of accidents involving DC-10s, the crashes were not caused by fatal design flaws.
But even then, aircraft manufacturer McDonnell Douglas expressed concerns about the spherical bearings that help secure the engines to the wings. McDonnell Douglas later merged with Boeing.
Past problems with these aircraft
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said shortly after the Louisville crash that investigators had found cracks In some of the parts that hold the engine to the wing. The cracks were not discovered during scheduled maintenance of the aircraft, raising questions about the adequacy of the maintenance program. These critical engine mount components were last closely inspected in October 2021, and the aircraft has not undergone another detailed inspection after approximately 7,000 takeoffs and landings.
Boeing documented in 2011 that parts used to secure the MD-11 engines to the wings had failed four times previously on three different planes, but at the time the aircraft manufacturer “determined that this did not result in safe flying conditions.”
The service bulletin issued by Boeing does not require aircraft owners to perform repairs like the FAA’s airworthiness directive, and the agency has not issued such a directive. At the time, Boeing simply recommended replacing the bearings with redesigned parts that were less likely to fail.
MD-11 aircraft flies again
The MD-11, the workhorse of some cargo fleets, is now back in the air after the FAA approved Boeing Co.’s plan to replace spherical bearings on every plane and increase inspections.
FedEx resumed using the planes to deliver packages on May 10, but UPS said it plans to retire its MD-11 fleet. Western Global also uses MD-11 but has not disclosed its plans.
After the accident, some experts speculated The MD-11 may never fly again If the cost of repairs proves to be more than worth it for these older planes. But Boeing said it found a way to address the safety concerns by simply replacing bearings and tightening inspections.
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