News over the past week has been dominated – overshadowed, even – by the horrific 4 November accident in Louisville involving a UPS-operated Boeing MD-11 Freighter.
The trijet came down shortly after take-off having gained little more than 100ft and crashed just beyond the end of Louisville’s runway 17R. In all, 14 people were killed – three on the aircraft and 11 on the ground.
The US National Transportation Safety Board has confirmed that the MD-11F lost its left-hand GE Aerospace CF6 engine and pylon during the take-off.
Sources now indicate that the investigation’s initial focus is on the pylon engine mounts.
Investigators have already recovered the jet’s cockpit-voce and flight-data recorders, which are being evaluated.
In the meantime, the US Federal Aviation Administration has ordered the grounding of the in-service MD-11F fleet – whether powered by CF6s or the alternative Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines – pending inspection and any corrective action.
US operators UPS, FedEx and Western Global Airlines all retain active MD-11F fleets, with a total of some 60 aircraft.
Earlier this year FedEx disclosed that it planned to retain the MD-11Fs in its fleet until 2032, having opted to delay their retirement by four years.
While still early in the investigative process, the crash is likely to draw comparisons to the watershed McDonnell Douglas DC-10 accident in Chicago more than 45 years ago.
The loss of American Airlines flight AA191 at Chicago O’Hare in May 1979 also involved an engine detaching at take-off.
But while there are superficial similarities between the two occurrences, the inquiry is yet to ascertain whether they share any deeper parallels.