NTSB presses Boeing, FAA in hearing on deadly UPS crash

The National Transportation Safety Board pressed Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday about the design of the structure connecting the engine to the wing that failed on the UPS plane that crashed in Louisville.

The questioning came on the second day of the NTSB’s hearings in their investigation into the Nov. 4, 2025, crash.

The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 cargo plane, built in 1991, went down around 5:15 p.m. after its left wing caught fire. The NTSB says the left engine and pylon separated after the takeoff rotation.

The plane was fully loaded with fuel for the nine-hour flight to Honolulu from UPS Worldport at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. Fifteen people, including three pilots, died in the crash. Twenty-three other people were injured.

The second day of hearings was surrounded around the design of the pylon, the structure that connects the engine to the wing. Investigators examining the wreckage after the crash found cracks in some of the parts of the pylon.

A major focus of Wednesday’s hearing was why the specific part inside the pylon that broke wasn’t considered what’s being called a principal structural element, or PSE — meaning a part considered essential to a safe flight — by Boeing.

Boeing testified the part that broke, the pylon aft bulkhead spherical bearing, was considered “failsafe,” meaning if one side broke the other side should still support the load. But UPS argued the crash itself proves that the system failed.

The agency’s final report likely won’t be ready until more than a year after the crash because the agency will look at every potential factor.

Credit: WDRB