NTSB probes why a UPS jet lost an engine and crashed on takeoff
By Alexandra Skores, CNN
Washington, DC (CNN) — The National Transportation Safety Board convened a two day hearing on Tuesday to investigate why a UPS McDonnell Douglas MD-11F lost an engine and crashed after taking off last year from Louisville, Kentucky.
“We issue safety recommendations … they are to be taken seriously,” said Jennifer Homendy, chairwoman of the NTSB. “Those recommendations are aimed, they’re comprehensive, they’re extensive, and they’re aimed at preventing another tragedy. If they’re not implemented … we will be here again.”
On November 4, UPS flight 2976, a cargo plane headed to Hawaii, crashed moments after taking off from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, spreading flames and wreckage for a half-mile and sending black smoke billowing into the sky. Fourteen people died, including the three crew members on the plane, and 23 people on the ground were injured.
The UPS freighter was a 34-year-old jet with three engines: two on the wings and one on the tail.
The hearing comes just days after the Federal Aviation Administration cleared the same type of aircraft to return to the skies.
Now, the NTSB will question witnesses, including representatives of UPS, the pilot’s union, the FAA and Boeing, to help determine what went wrong.
The chairwoman addressed the many family members of victims gathered Tuesday in the board room, expressing her condolences.
“This accident, just like others, undoubtedly caused invisible injuries that aren’t reflected in the numbers we provide,” Homendy said. “Psychological and emotional trauma from being physically injured, witnessing an accident, or losing a loved one can have a profound impact on lives and livelihoods.”
Tuesday’s hearing is expected to go for 10 hours. It will cover fleet safety processes, how anomalies found during maintenance are reported, the FAA and Boeing’s continued operational safety program and communications after problems are found.
Pilots were originally supposed to take a different plane
According to NTSB documents, the over nine hour flight to Hawaii was originally meant to take place on a different plane.
However, a fuel leak on the original aircraft was “discovered and reported to maintenance” during a routine pre-flight inspection. The airplane that ultimately crashed was assigned to the crew as a replacement.
Preliminary findings show fatigue cracks, overstressing
The agency already determined a pair of structural fittings that kept the left jet engine attached to the wing broke, according to the NTSB.
At Tuesday’s hearing, the board played an animation of the engine-to-wing attachment design and how it failed. The pieces attaching the engine to the wing, known as lugs, showed signs of fatigue cracking and over-stressing, investigators said.
At the end of the animation, an airport security video showed the engine separating and going up and over the wing before falling alongside the runway. The plane spewed fire and a dark trail of smoke on the runway as it descended to the ground. The MD-11F only got about 30 feet in the air before crashing into a warehouse, storage yard, and petroleum recycling facility just outside the airport.
Three days after the crash, UPS grounded its MD-11 planes, and the following day the FAA grounded all MD-11 planes in the United States until inspections were completed. At the time of the crash, MD-11 aircraft made up approximately 9% of UPS’ fleet, the carrier said. FedEx and Western Global Airlines also flew the same type of aircraft.
Last week, “after extensive review, the FAA approved Boeing’s protocol for safely returning MD-11 airplanes to service,” the agency told CNN in a statement.
Boeing, the manufacturer is responsible for the MD-11 since it bought McDonnell Douglas, provided inspection and repair instructions. Boeing “continues to provide technical support and guidance to help them meet FAA requirements,” a company spokesperson told CNN.
UPS announced it does not plan to fly its MD-11s any longer. However FedEx has already resumed some flights with repaired and inspected aircraft.
Unanswered questions
During this week’s hearings, more details about what caused the crash are expected to be made public.
All previous maintenance will be reviewed, including overhaul work done for six weeks that the aircraft was out of service in September and October in San Antonio, Texas. The plane resumed flying for UPS less than a month before the crash.
The information from the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder will indicate what the pilots said and how they reacted to the troubled flight.
Investigators will also probe what information UPS was required to report to Boeing and the FAA, operational safety process and engine attachment designs.
A final report from the NTSB is typically expected in 18 to 24 months after an accident, detailing the probable causes of the crash. The agency does not place blame but determines what went wrong and provides recommendations to improve safety.
The-CNN-Wire
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