NTSB reviewing MD-11F checks, procedures after crash

The NTSB remains open to implementing new maintenance checks, protocols and procedures for MD-11Fs following the fatal crash of UPS flight 2976 on Nov. 4. With an action plan from the NTSB in the formative stages, it remains unclear whether MD-11Fs face a more pronounced retirement timeline following the crash . The trijet model will likely remain in service for now amid the ongoing shortage of large-widebody freighter capacity. [caption id="attachment_57292823" align="aligncenter" width="994"] UPS is one of three MD-11F operators. (Courtesy/Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport)[/caption] Today, NTSB Board Member Todd Inman said during a briefing that so far, the agency has found nothing that would require new airworthiness directives. “Every aircraft, based on its age, hours and number of cycles, has to go through a series of checks that have been tested and verified over many years of this plane flying,” he said. “We are looking back and looking to confirm that every one of those checks has been conducted.” The FAA declined to comment on whether it was being pressured to ground all MD-11Fs. Videos posted online of the crash have prompted many to theorize about the cause, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said in a news conference Nov. 5. “We are not in the business of theories. We don’t speculate,” he said. “We are going to wait for the facts to come out and, with those facts, we will present them to the American people.” However, the crash was not an air traffic control issue and appears to have been a mechanical issue, Duffy said. Background on unit 48417 The CF6-powered, 1991-vintage unit 48417 had operated 92,928 hours and 21,015 cycles as of Sept. 4, a day after it arrived at the San Antonio Aerospace facility in San Antonio (SAT), for maintenance, according to a report submitted Sept. 18 to the FAA’s Service Difficulty Reporting System. A crack in a center wing upper fuel tank lower stringer required a permanent repair, according to the report. Unit 48417 left SAT for UPS’ hub in Louisville, Ky. (SDF), on Oct. 18. The MD-11F, which failed to maintain its climb after an engine fell off during takeoff from SDF and crashed, was flying at an altitude of 475 feet and a speed of 183 knots at 5:13:32 p.m. ET, Inman said in the briefing. The three crew members operating the trijet freighter were Capt. Richard Wartenberg, First Officer Lee Truitt and International Relief Officer Capt. Dana Diamond, according to a statement UPS issued today. MD-11F fleet NTSB findings on what caused the accident could result in more safety protocols and maintenance checks for the MD-11F, or could influence carriers operating the MD-11F to retire the aircraft from fleet service sooner than planned. In addition to the thirty members of the NTSB, representatives from the FAA, Boeing, GE Aerospace, the Teamsters Union and the International Pilots Association are a part of the team investigating the crash of unit 48417, Inman said. There are about sixty-five active MD-11Fs in service with the three remaining operators of the type: FedEx, the largest operator with thirty-four units in its fleet as of Aug. 31; UPS, the second-largest operator with twenty-six; and Western Global Airlines with thirteen MD-11Fs but only five have been active in the past ninety days. UPS has retired two MD-11Fs so far in 2025 and had planned to retire one more by the end of the year, according to its third-quarter earnings report released Oct. 28. The company has also taken delivery of six 767-300Fs this year and is using that type to replace the MD-11Fs. Meanwhile, FedEx announced in March that it had extended the retirement of its MD-11Fs to fiscal 2032 from fiscal 2028. Western Global’s plans are unclear. The three carriers could not immediately be reached for comment. Cargo Facts LATAM 2026, the essential event for stakeholders in Latin America, will take place Feb. 10-12 at the Marquis Reforma in Mexico City. Learn more and register by Dec. 26 to take advantage of early-bird pricing.

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