The NTSB has released a clear surveillance video of the moment the left engine separated from UPS Flight 2976 as it rotated for takeoff from Louisville for Honolulu last November. The video was shown at an NTSB hearing into the crash Tuesday. The MD-11F had just reached VR and continued the takeoff but crashed just beyond the perimeter fence in an industrial area. The three crew members were killed along with 12 people on the ground. The FAA has since approved a fix for the pylons on the DC-10/MD-11 family of aircraft, and FedEx has resumed operating them on domestic flights. The final NTSB report is expected later this year.
🚨 WATCH: NTSB has shown new CCTV surveillance footage of UPS Flight 2976 showing the moment the left engine and pylon separated from the wing during takeoff from Louisville pic.twitter.com/KSgbw4VzuV
— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) May 19, 2026
The NTSB also released the transcript of the cockpit voice recorder of the last seconds of the flight. According to AviationCircle, the crew fought the stricken aircraft to the end. This is the transcript the publication released.
(HOT-1 and HOT-2 are the two pilots in the cockpit. CAM is the cockpit area microphone. GPWS is the ground proximity warning system.)
17:12:31 — [increase in ambient noise, consistent with application of takeoff thrust]
17:12:35 — HOT-1: thrust set.
17:12:41 — HOT-1: eighty knots.
17:12:42 — HOT-2: checked.
17:12:58 — HOT-1: veee one.
17:13:02 — HOT-1: rotate.
17:13:04 — HOT-1: V two.
17:13:05 — [high pitch ringing sound, approximately 6350 Hz, continued with varying amplitude throughout the remainder of the recording]
17:13:09 — [low frequency thump sound]
17:13:11 — HOT-2: what’s the – what’s the problem?
17:13:12 — GPWS: bank angle. bank angle.
17:13:12 — HOT-1: lower the nose.
17:13:12 — HOT-1: lower the nose.
17:13:13 — HOT-1: lower the nose.
17:13:15 — HOT-?: look.
17:13:15 — HOT-1: keep it – pull it back.
17:13:16 — HOT-1: pull it back.
17:13:18 — HOT-1: hold (up/on) hold (up/on) hold (up/on).
17:13:19 — HOT-1: right there pause it pause it.
17:13:20 — HOT-1: freeze it.
17:13:21 — HOT-1: freeze it.
17:13:22 — HOT-1: firewall it.
17:13:23 — HOT-2: it’s all the way in.
17:13:24 — CAM-3: God d—
17:13:24 — [loud thumping sounds]
17:13:27 — [sound of aural warning level 3 tritone]
17:13:27 — [loud crashing sounds, continued throughout the remainder of the recording]
17:13:29 — HOT-1: ah #.
17:13:31 — END OF TRANSCRIPT, END OF RECORDING
Another chilling detail released during the hearing was that the aircraft in question was not originally scheduled for the flight to Hawaii. During the walkaround of the plane that was supposed to be used, the first officer discovered a fuel leak and the aircraft was swapped out. That detail was discovered by Will Guisbond of the Air Current.
Much of the first day of the hearing centered on the maintenance protocols involving the pylon mounts. It was a crackled spherical bearing in the rear aft mount that failed and allowed the engine and pylon to pitch up and then tear loose from the aircraft. Fatigue cracks had been found in 10 aircraft previously and post-crash inspections found damage to the same structure in three MD-11s and one DC-10. The hearings continue on May 20.
Makes me sick to my stomach.
Only thing worse than a engine off light is a wing off light.
So very reminiscent of the AA DC-10 crash in ORD in ‘79. I really thought they had this problem solved over 40 years ago.
Not in the least bit reminiscent. The ORD ‘79 crash was due to improper maintenance short cutting in which they installed the engine and pylon as one assembly. The pylon with bearing and bulkhead needed to be precisely installed prior to the engine being installed on the pylon. Today’s issue is not the 1979 issue, not even remotely.