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WASHINGTON: The US civil aviation regulator ordered Saturday that all MD-11 cargo planes remain grounded for inspections, after one of them was involved in a deadly crash in Kentucky this week.
A McDonnell Douglas MD-11 aircraft operated by UPS exploded into flames when it crashed shortly after departing Tuesday from the airport in Louisville, killing at least 14 people. A three-person crew was aboard.
Freight carriers UPS and FedEx later grounded their MD-11 fleets, while Boeing, which owns McDonnell Douglas, said it had recommended that all operators suspend their use of the planes.
On Saturday, the Federal Aviation Administration issued an emergency directive that “prohibits further flight until the airplane is inspected and all applicable corrective actions are performed.”
The directive applies to the MD-11 and MD-11F models and says it “was prompted by an accident where the left-hand engine and pylon detached from the airplane during takeoff.”
“The agency has determined the unsafe condition is likely to exist or develop in other products of the same type design,” it said.
On Friday, UPS said it had decided to “temporarily ground” its MD-11s “out of an abundance of caution and in the interest of safety.” It said the model accounts for around nine percent of its fleet.
FedEx said Saturday it, too, had grounded its 28 MD-11s out of a total fleet of around 700 aircraft as it conducts a safety review.
Both carriers said they were acting on a recommendation from the plane’s manufacturer. McDonnell Douglas originally made the MD-11 but was acquired by Boeing in 1997.
Boeing said it had “recommended to the three operators of the MD-11 Freighter that they suspend flight operations while additional engineering analysis is performed.”
The only other carrier using the MD-11 is Western Global Airlines.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said another crash victim had been located, bringing the total number to 14.
“Please pray for these families, the Louisville community and everyone affected by this terrible event,” he said on X.
Trail of debris
The plane, filled with around 38,000 gallons (144,000 liters) of fuel for the long-haul flight to Hawaii, narrowly missed a major Ford vehicle assembly plant that employs about 3,000 people.
Aerial footage of the crash site showed a long trail of debris as firefighters doused the flames, with smoke billowing from the area.
Todd Inman, a member of the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), said this week that investigators had identified the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder – known as a plane’s black boxes – and would send them to Washington for analysis.
The crash was reportedly the deadliest in UPS history. Its main hub, Worldport, is in Louisville, where it employs thousands of people.
According to the NTSB, the plane was built in 1991 and was modified into a cargo aircraft.
The crash comes amid the longest government shutdown in US history, with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warning this week of “mass chaos” in the skies due to a lack of air traffic control staff.
Inman said the NTSB was not aware of any staff shortages at Louisville’s airport at the time of the crash.