Boeing warned plane owners in 2011 about a broken part that contributed to a UPS plane crash that killed 15 people last year, yet the manufacturer did not continue to see it as a safety threat, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
The UPS flight went down in November 2025 shortly after departure from Louisville, Kentucky, when its left engine detached from the wing during takeoff.
The NTSB articulated that Boeing had acknowledged incidents of similar parts failing on three planes dating back to 2011 but chose to classify the issues as not presenting a safety threat at that time, despite the manufacturer’s past knowledge of dangerous failures involving the MD-11 aircraft.
Upon investigation, mandatory maintenance checks failed to reveal cracks in critical engine mount parts, raising alarms regarding future inspections. The last detailed examination occurred in October 2021, with the plane due for another comprehensive inspection after approximately 7,000 more operations.
This incident echoes a previous 1979 crash of an American Airlines DC-10, where a severed engine resulted in extensive casualties. Both models share a lineage and design parallels.
Former FAA and NTSB investigator Jeff Guzzetti criticized Boeing's failure to adequately address the 2011 service bulletin, questioning how UPS integrated this critical information into their maintenance protocols.
NTSB findings include photographs depicting the engine’s chaotic separation leading to explosions and wing fires. Three pilots aboard were tragically lost alongside 12 individuals on the ground near Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport.
Boeing has refrained from commenting pending ongoing investigations but expressed condolences for the victims' families through spokesperson Jim Mayer, emphasizing the active response and recovery efforts.
Following the crash, all similar MD-11 and aligned DC-10 aircraft have been grounded, bringing the focus back onto safety measures and maintenance standards in the aviation industry.
