UPS and FedEx announced that they temporarily grounded their fleet of McDonnell Douglas MD-11 cargo planes after a crash in Louisville, Kentucky on Tuesday at the city’s international airport involving the aircraft. Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said another victim was located at the crash site on Friday evening, which brought the total number of known fatalities to 14 people.
“The grounding is effective immediately,” UPS said in a statement. “We made this decision proactively at the recommendation of the aircraft manufacturer. Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our employees and the communities we serve.”
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FedEx confirmed in a statement to The Hill that it is doing the same as it conducts “a thorough safety review based on the recommendation of the manufacturer.”
“We are immediately implementing contingency plans within our integrated air-ground network to minimize disruptions,” FedEx said. “Our teams are focused on delivering the highest standards of safety and service for our customers and team members.”
MD-11s, according to UPS, make up about 9% of its Airlines fleet, while FedEx said it operates 28 MD-11s. The plane that crashed earlier this week was a UPS cargo plane.
Reuters reported that Boeing, which acquired the MD-11 program in 1997, said it recommended that UPS and FedEx suspend the MD-11’s flight operations.
“This recommendation was made in an abundance of caution and we will continue coordinating with the [Federal Aviation Administration] on this matter,” a Boeing spokesperson said.
Production of the MD-11 planes ended in 2000, Reuters wrote. Passenger service stopped in 2014.
Louisville crash
The UPS flight 2976 MD-11F cargo plane that crashed Tuesday exploded just seconds after takeoff, reaching about 100 feet above ground before plunging in flames off the runway. CCTV footage from the incident showed the plane bursting into flames, followed by clouds of black smoke.
Because the plane had 38,000 gallons of fuel on board, a series of explosions was triggered, leading to a half-mile path of destruction near the airport’s commercial area.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board said a left engine detached midair. Both black boxes were recovered and sent to Washington to be analyzed.
NTSB expects to issue a preliminary investigation into the report within 30 days.
