FAA Prohibits MD-11 Flights After UPS, FedEx Voluntarily Ground Them

The FAA has issued an emergency AD barring U.S. operators of MD-11s and MD-11Fs from flying them “until the airplane is inspected and all applicable corrective actions are performed using a method approved by the Manager, AIR-520, Continued Operational Safety Branch, FAA.” However, the corrective actions apparently haven’t been determined because the cause of the separation of the left engine and pylon on the UPS MD-11 that crashed off the end of the runway in Louisville last Tuesday is still under investigation.

UPS and FedEx have both voluntarily grounded their fleets of MD-11 freighters in the wake of the tragedy at Louisville Airport last Tuesday. The left engine on the aircraft fell off the UPS trijet just as it was taking off. The plane slammed into buildings and vehicles off the end of the runway, igniting a huge fireball. At least 14 people died, including three crew members on the freighter. FedEx has 28 of the aircraft, an updated version of the DC-10, and UPS has 26. The decisions late Friday to park the planes was made individually by the carriers on the recommendation of Boeing, which inherited the type when it merged with McDonnell Douglas in 1997.

“This recommendation was made in an abundance of caution and we will continue coordinating with the FAA on this matter,” Boeing said in a statement. The grounding has both carriers scrambling to patch schedule gaps as the busy holiday season looms. The MD-11 makes up about 4% of FedEx’s fleet and 9% of UPS’s, but they are heavy lifters and can carry about 200,000 pounds of freight with a range of about 7,000 nm. The crash airplane was on its way to Honolulu.