(Nov 8): United Parcel Service Inc (UPS) and FedEx Corp grounded their McDonnell Douglas MD-11 aircraft fleet on Boeing Co’s recommendation, after a crash involving the jet killed more than a dozen people in Louisville this week.
UPS said the grounding is “out of an abundance of caution” and will affect about 9% of its fleet, according to a statement. FedEx followed suit, stating the MD-11 accounts for about 4% of its aircraft.
Boeing, which took over McDonnell Douglas in 1997, confirmed it had advised all three operators of the MD-11 Freighter to suspend flight operations while additional engineering analysis is performed. Safety is the “top priority”, it said, adding it’s continuing to coordinate with the Federal Aviation Administration.
Both UPS and FedEx emphasised that contingency plans are being implemented to minimise disruptions to customers. Western Global Airlines LLC is the third operator of MD-11s, according to a post on X by The Air Current’s Jon Ostrower.
The grounding comes after UPS flight 2976 crashed shortly after take-off from the Muhammad Ali airport in Louisville on Tuesday evening. The crash resulted in 13 fatalities, including crew members and individuals on the ground.
Federal investigators have recovered the cockpit voice and flight data recorders and are working to determine the cause of the crash. Investigators will use the recordings to reconstruct the jet’s final moments as it departed for Honolulu, Hawaii.
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UPS has a fleet of 295 aircraft, according to Planespotters.net, of which 27 are MD-11s. FedEx said it had approximately 700 aircraft in its fleet, with 28 MD-11s in operation.
The MD-11 is a three-engine aircraft that’s long out of production and only flown for cargo operations today. The last passenger flight took place in 2014. The programme, a stretch version of the original MD-10, was originally launched in the mid 1980s, and the aircraft entered commercial service in 1990.
The aircraft involved in Tuesday’s accident was originally built for Thai Airways International in the early 1990s before being converted into a freighter about 20 years ago for UPS. The plane was powered by three General Electric Co CF6 engines.
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