Posted on 11/20/2025 12:52:31 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
A critical mount that kept the left engine attached to the UPS flight that crashed in Louisville earlier this month failed only moments after the doomed flight broke ground, according to a new report from the National Transportation Safety Board
The report includes stunning frame-by-frame photos of the left engine of three-engined McDonnell Douglas MD-11F separating from the plane and going up and over the wing and igniting a fireball seen in a sequence of six extraordinary new images obtained by investigators.
The three pilots of UPS flight 2976 and 11 people on the ground were killed when the beleaguered jet sliced a half-mile long debris field across a petroleum recycling facility and UPS warehouse, setting off a massive blaze of fire and black smoke visible for miles.
The report highlights fatigue cracks found in the hardware attaching the engine to the wing and symptoms of over-stressing, but more is still to come as the agency conducts its full investigation.
The UPS freighter was a 34-year-old jet and had been in the process of being phased out by the cargo carrier.
The Federal Aviation Administration ultimately grounded all MD-11 and MD-11F aircraft until each underwent a thorough inspection. UPS has 26 other MD-11s in their fleet, a company spokesperson told CNN.
Investigators who combed the runway shortly after the crash said they recovered and cleaned hardware from the scene—a pair structural fittings which kept the engine pylon snug to the wing. The fittings—known as lugs—showed signs of fatigue cracking and over-stressing, evidenced by “their 2 o’clock and 9 o’clock positions,” investigators said.
(Excerpt) Read more at lite.cnn.com ...
DC10, 1979.
Crash due to engine and pylon separation from the wing.
Improper maintenance procedure. All aboard killed.
Factory procedure was to remove the engine from the pylon, leaving the pylon in place.
American was removing the pylon and engine as an assembly,
Fastener at the rear of the pylon or the pylon itself was cracked and broke loose. The sole purpose of that fastener is to keep the engine/pylon assembly from twistimg around the main bolt at the front of the pylon, with predictable results.
Somebody didn’t learn.
Worked heavy transports in Air Force.
“Sometimes history doesn’t repeat itself. Sometimes it picks up a
big club and says “Weren’t you listening the first time?”
— Terry Pratchett.
The USAF version of the DC-10 was in the inventory - and just now the last was retired.
ONE aircraft was lost in a ground incident. All those decades - one.
Why? Professional maintainers following rules - not cost and corner cutting airline pouges putting deadlines before human lives.
Whatever you say, Poindexter.
That reminds me of pod racing on Tatooine. Pretty crazy!
One time posters took an interest in an article. Read it, evaluated the subject matter and posted comments on their review.
No it is just posting for postings’ sake. No comments and many ignore their thread after posting.
20 articles posted since 3:11 PM today.
And you want photos?
“Broke ground”? This must be the first time an airplane flight has broken ground. I thought breaking ground was what you did when you started a construction project.
Thanks for the pics! :-)
The USAF version of the DC-10 was in the inventory - and just now the last was retired.
ONE aircraft was lost in a ground incident. All those decades - one.
Why? Professional maintainers following rules - not cost and corner cutting airline pouges putting deadlines before human lives.
*********************************************************
That’s what happens when you let bean counters and MBAs run the place.
“You manage things, you lead people. We went overboard on management
and forgot about leadership. It might help if we ran the MBAs out
of Washington.”
— Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper
So was Continental. They were fined $100k by FAA.
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