On November 20, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) published a series of photos of the crash involving a UPS MD-11 cargo plane in Louisville, revealing the moment the left engine and its pylon were launched into the air, engulfed in flames before crashing to the ground.
Flames also erupted around the area near the left engine pylon and continued burning until the aircraft hit the ground, according to the NTSB.
U.S. officials said the aircraft reached a maximum altitude of only 9 meters before crashing. A post-accident inspection revealed signs of cracking caused by “metal fatigue,” a phenomenon in which metal structures weaken over time from continuous high stress.
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According to the NTSB, the components showing signs of fatigue had last been inspected in October 2021. Before the crash, the MD-11 had completed a total of 21,403 flights, and the operator had not planned another inspection of these parts until the aircraft reached 28,000 flights. The accident occurred as the plane was taking off from Louisville International Airport en route to Hawaii. The MD-11 crashed outside the airport, killing all three crew members and 11 people on the ground, and injuring 23 others. U.S. authorities subsequently grounded the entire MD-11 fleet for inspection.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also issued an emergency directive related to the incident in which “the left engine and pylon separated from the aircraft during takeoff.” “The cause of the separation is still under investigation. This unsafe condition could result in the loss of the ability to sustain safe flight and landing,” the FAA said.
The MD-11 was designed and manufactured by McDonnell Douglas, which later became part of Boeing. It was once a popular wide-body passenger aircraft after its debut in 1990, before most units were converted to cargo use due to rising fuel costs. According to Boeing, the MD-11 has a maximum takeoff weight of 286 tons, with more than 117 tons allocated for fuel.
The NTSB noted that the MD-11’s predecessor, the DC-10, was involved in a similar accident in 1979 that killed more than 270 people in Chicago. In that incident, an American Airlines aircraft crashed into an empty field after its left engine, pylon assembly, and a portion of the wing separated during takeoff.