Federal investigators probing the crash of a United Parcel Service cargo jet that killed 14 people in Louisville, Ky., earlier this month found signs of metal fatigue and stress in hardware that connected an engine to the plane, according to a preliminary accident report published Thursday.
Investigators “found evidence of fatigue cracks in addition to areas of overstress failure” in a part of the engine mount that linked the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 freighter’s left engine to the wing, the National Transportation Safety Board report said. Images taken from video footage of the plane’s takeoff showed the General Electric engine aflame after it detached, shot above the fuselage and hit the ground.
The jet continued to climb and cleared a fence before its left main landing gear hit the roof of a UPS warehouse beyond the runway at Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport. The plane then crashed in an industrial area beyond the warehouse that included a petroleum recycling facility, the report said.
Collage of 6 photos showing an engine detaching from the left wing of a UPS plane during takeoff, resulting in an explosion.
This sequence of framegrabs shows an engine detaching from the UPS plane's left wing upon takeoff at Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport on Nov. 4. UPS/NTSB/AP
UPS had last inspected the engine mount in question in 2021. Certain related parts would have been due for inspection after more than 28,000 flights, but the airplane had flown about 21,000 flights at the time of the crash.
The UPS plane was fully loaded with fuel for its scheduled flight to Honolulu. The ensuing crash killed three crew members and 11 people on the ground.
UPS said it would support the NTSB’s investigation through its conclusion. Both it and FedEx have grounded their MD-11 fleets.
Excerpt from WSJ
Read the full article