Boeing told operators of McDonnell Douglas MD-11s in 2011 about four earlier failures of a part that has been a focus of the investigation of the fatal Nov. 4, 2025, crash of a United Parcel Service (UPS) MD-11F after takeoff from Louisville, Kentucky, U.S., the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says.
The crash killed all three crewmembers, along with 11 people on the ground. Two people on the ground were seriously injured, and one of those later died of those injuries; 21 other people had minor injuries.
Surveillance videos at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport showed that the left engine and pylon separated from the wing after the airplane rotated for takeoff from Runway 17R; a fire erupted on the engine, near the left pylon wing attachment.
The NTSB said in an investigative update issued Jan. 14 that a laboratory examination of components of the left pylon aft…
