UPS and FedEx grounding MD-11 planes following Louisville crash that killed 14 people

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UPS and FedEx stated they're grounding their fleets of McDonnell Douglas MD-11 planes “out of an abundance of warning” following a lethal crash on the UPS world aviation hub in Kentucky.

The crash Tuesday at UPS Worldport in Louisville killed 14 individuals, together with the three pilots on the MD-11 that was headed for Honolulu.

MD-11 aircrafts make up about 9% of of the UPS airline fleet and 4% of the FedEx fleet, the businesses stated.

Dashcam footage captured the second UPS Flight 2976 crashed in Louisville, Kentucky, on Nov. 4, 2025. Anela Hadzic / Fb

“We made this choice proactively on the advice of the plane producer,” a UPS assertion stated late Friday. “Nothing is extra necessary to us than the security of our workers and the communities we serve.”

FedEx stated in an e mail that will probably be grounding the aircrafts whereas it conducts “an intensive security overview based mostly on the advice of the producer.”

Boeing, which merged with McDonnell Douglas in 1997, didn't instantly reply to an e mail from The Related Press asking the reasoning behind the advice.

Western International Airways is the one different US cargo airline that flies MD-11s, in accordance with aviation analytics agency Cirium.

The airline has 16 MD-11s in its fleet however 12 of them have already been put in storage.

The corporate didn't instantly reply to an e mail in search of remark exterior of enterprise hours early Saturday.

A UPS MD-11 aircraft sits on the tarmac on the UPS World Port facility at Louisville Muhammad Ali Worldwide Airport in Louisville, Kentucky, on Nov. 5, 2025. John Sommers II/UPI/Shutterstock

A big fireball bursts into the air after a UPS cargo aircraft crashed right into a row of companies seconds after taking off in Louisville, Kentucky. Anela Hadzic / Fb

Boeing introduced in 1998 that it could be phasing out its MD-11 jetliner manufacturing, with last deliveries due in 2000.

The UPS cargo aircraft, in-built 1991, was almost airborne Tuesday when a bell sounded within the cockpit, Nationwide Transportation Security Board member Todd Inman stated earlier Friday.

For the subsequent 25 seconds, the bell rang and the pilots tried to regulate the plane because it barely lifted off the runway, its left wing ablaze and lacking an engine, after which plowed into the bottom in a spectacular fireball.

The cockpit voice recorder captured the bell, which sounded about 37 seconds after the crew referred to as for takeoff thrust, Inman stated.

There are several types of alarms with various meanings, he stated, and investigators haven’t decided why the bell rang, although they know the left wing was burning and the engine on that aspect had indifferent.

Inman stated it could be months earlier than a transcript of the cockpit recording is made public as a part of that investigation course of.

Jeff Guzzetti, a former federal crash investigator, stated the bell possible was signaling the engine fireplace.

“It occurred at a degree within the takeoff the place they had been possible previous their choice velocity to abort the takeoff,” Guzzetti advised The Related Press after Inman’s information convention. “They had been possible previous their vital choice velocity to stay on the runway and cease safely. … They’ll must completely examine the choices the crew could or could not have had.”

Black smoke and flames shoot into the sky after a UPS aircraft sure for Hawaii crashed. Sabit Aliyed / SWNS

A UPS cargo aircraft takes off within the background of a reporter talking on digital camera at Louisville Muhammad Ali Worldwide Airport on Nov. 5, 2025. Getty Pictures

Dramatic video captured the plane crashing into companies and erupting in a fireball.

Footage from telephones, automobiles and safety cameras has given investigators proof of what occurred from many alternative angles.

Flight data recommend the UPS MD-11 that crashed underwent upkeep whereas it was on the bottom in San Antonio for greater than a month till mid-October.