if keady reads this right, the AA ORD MD-11 crash was caused as a result of
trying to verify the flyable condition of the very bearing that allegedly
caused the UPS crash
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LIVEÂ Trump administrationLIVEÂ Iran protestsInsurrection ActMortgage ratesHarry
Styles new albumU.S. NEWS
A part that broke on a UPS plane that crashed in Kentucky failed 4 times on
other planes years ago
BYÂ Â JOSH FUNKUpdated 6:41 AM PST, January 15, 2026
Boeing warned plane owners in 2011 about a broken part that contributed to a
UPS plane crash that killed 15 last year but at that point the plane
manufacturer didn’t believe it threatened safety, the National Transportation
Safety Board said Wednesday.
The UPS plane crashed in November 2025 shortly after taking off in Louisville,
Kentucky, when the left engine flew off the wing as the plane rolled down the
runway. Three pilots on the plane that was headed for Hawaii were killed along
with 12 more people on the ground near Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International
Airport.
The NTSB said Wednesday that Boeing had documented in 2011 there were four
previous failures of a part that helps secure the MD-11’s engines to the wings
on three different planes, but at that point the plane manufacturer “determined
it would not result in a safety of flight condition.” These planes were
actually built by McDonnell Douglas, which was later bought by Boeing.
The NTSB previously said investigators found cracks in some of the parts that
held the engine to the wing. Those cracks hadn’t been caught in regular
maintenance done on the plane, which raised questions about the adequacy of the
maintenance schedule. The last time those key engine mount parts were examined
closely was in October 2021, and the plane wasn’t due for another detailed
inspection for roughly 7,000 more takeoffs and landings.
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2025 crash brings up issues from 1979 crash
It’s not clear when the cracks started to develop in the parts that helped hold
the engine on the wing, but this crash is reminiscent of a 1979 crash in
Chicago when the left engine flew off an American Airlines DC-10 during
takeoff, killing 273 people. The DC-10 was the predecessor of the MD-11.
That previous crash led to the worldwide grounding of 274 DC-10s. The airline
workhorse was allowed to return to the skies because the NTSB determined that
maintenance workers damaged the plane that crashed while improperly using a
forklift to reattach the engine. That meant the crash wasn’t caused by a fatal
design flaw even though there had already been a number of accidents involving
DC-10s.
But former FAA and NTSB crash investigator Jeff Guzzetti said that a service
bulletin McDonnell Douglas issued in 1980 did identify failures of the
spherical bearing race as a “safety of flight condition” so it’s surprising
that Boeing didn’t call it that in 2011. He said that American had removed the
engine of that plane so it could inspect that bearing.
“I just think it raises questions regarding the adequacy of the severity of the
2011 service letter, and it also raises questions about how UPS incorporated
that information and acted upon it,” Guzzetti said.
Repairs weren’t required by FAA
The service bulletin that Boeing issued didn’t require plane owners to make
repairs like an FAA airworthiness directive would, and the agency didn’t issue
such a directive.
Former federal crash investigator Alan Diehl said the notice from Boeing
recommended replacing the bearings with a redesigned part that was less likely
to fail, but it still allowed operators to replace defective bearings with
another older bearing that had demonstrated it was prone to failing.
“As the investigation continues, the NTSB will have to address whether this
service bulletin was an adequate solution to a known problem which could have
had catastrophic results,” Diehl said. “The UPS crash highlights the need for
increased maintenance measures on older airframes.”
NTSB didn’t say whether there had been additional documented failures of the
spherical bearing race since 2011. Investigators found that part broken into
two pieces after the UPS crash, and the lugs that held that part were cracked.
Photos released by the NTSB of the Nov. 4 crash show flames erupting as the
rear of the engine starting to detach before it flew up and over the wing. Then
the wing was engulfed by fire as the burning engine flew above it.
Investigators search for reason why engine flew off
The factual report released Wednesday doesn’t state what caused the engine to
fly off, but it’s clear that investigators are focused on the failure of this
bearing. The ultimate conclusion won’t come though until the NTSB’s final
report, which usually doesn’t come until more than a year after a crash.
But the report will undoubtedly be cited in the first lawsuit over the crash,
filed last month, and subsequent ones. They will be investigating what Boeing
knew at the time and what UPS did in response to this 2011 bulletin.
“I think that this even further demonstrates that there was warning signs that
predated the crash that any reasonable organization should have utilized to
make sure that the Louisville crash didn’t happen,” said attorney Brad Cosgrove
of the Clifford Law firm, which filed the first lawsuit.
The report does make clear that neither of the plane’s two other engines were
on fire before the crash. Some experts had previously speculated that debris
from the left engine might have damaged the engine on the tail.
Boeing, UPS and the Federal Aviation Administration are limited on what they
can say while the NTSB investigation is ongoing, so they all declined to
comment on Wednesday’s report. Boeing and UPS both expressed condolences to the
families that lost loved ones in the crash.
“We remain profoundly saddened by the Flight 2976 accident,” UPS spokesperson
Jim Mayer said. “Our thoughts continue to be with the families and Louisville
community who are grieving, and we remain focused on the recovery effort,”
Mayer said.
Plane involved in the crash was an older model
The 34-year-old MD-11 plane only got 30 feet (9.1 meters) off the ground before
crashing into several industrial buildings just past the runway and generating
a massive fireball that could be seen for miles. Dramatic videos of the crash
showed the plane on fire as it plowed into buildings and released a massive
plume of smoke.
Airlines quit flying this type of plane commercially years ago because it isn’t
as efficient as newer models, but they had continued to fly for cargo carriers
like UPS and FedEx and a few of these planes were also modified for use in
firefighting. All the MD-11s that had been in use and 10 related DC-10s have
been grounded since the crash.
Cosgrove said he thinks it will eventually become clear that these MD-11s
“probably should have been retired and that they had exceeded their shelf life.”
___
This story has been corrected because it previously used the wrong year in a
subhead to refer to when the crash happened. The UPS plane crashed right after
takeoff on Nov. 4, 2025 — not 2015.
JOSH FUNK
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JOSH FUNK
Funk is an Associated Press reporter who covers transportation including
aviation safety and airlines along with...
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Funk is an Associated Press reporter who covers transportation including
aviation safety and airlines along with all the major freight railroads. Funk
also covers Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, the impact of the ongoing bird
flu outbreak, agriculture and other news out of the Midwest.
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