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By Benjamin Foster | Staff Writer with Agencies
In the wake of a tragic crash that killed 14 people at the UPS Worldport facility in Louisville, Kentucky, both UPS and FedEx have announced the temporary grounding of their McDonnell Douglas MD-11 aircraft. The companies said the decision was made “out of an abundance of caution” and at the recommendation of the aircraft’s manufacturer, Boeing, which merged with McDonnell Douglas in 1997.
The fatal accident occurred on Tuesday when a UPS MD-11 cargo jet bound for Honolulu crashed shortly after takeoff. All three crew members on board were among the victims. According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the aircraft, built in 1991, experienced a cockpit alarm moments before becoming airborne. The warning bell rang for about 25 seconds as the crew struggled to control the plane, which lifted briefly before crashing in a fireball, its left wing ablaze and missing an engine.
Todd Inman, a member of the NTSB, said investigators have not yet determined the cause of the alarm but confirmed that the left engine detached mid-takeoff. It will take months before a full transcript from the cockpit voice recorder is released.
Jeff Guzzetti, a former federal crash investigator, noted that the cockpit bell was likely an engine fire warning. “They were probably past their critical decision speed to safely abort takeoff,” he said, emphasizing that investigators will analyze the options the crew had in those crucial seconds.
The MD-11, once a workhorse of global cargo fleets, now represents a small fraction of UPS and FedEx operations. The model makes up about 9% of UPS’s aircraft and 4% of FedEx’s. Boeing discontinued production of the MD-11 in 2000, and only a few remain in service worldwide. Western Global Airlines, another U.S.-based cargo carrier, operates 16 MD-11s, though most are already in storage.
TERRIFYING: Dashcam video shows the moment the UPS cargo plane crashed in Louisville, Kentucky, earlier this week, killing 14 people and igniting a fireball that struck two nearby businesses.
UPS has temporarily grounded 9% of its fleet "out of an abundance of caution." pic.twitter.com/HzQC9eBDxm
— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 8, 2025
FedEx said it is conducting a “thorough safety review” of its MD-11 fleet in coordination with Boeing. UPS released a similar statement, stressing that employee and community safety remains its top priority.
The UPS Worldport facility, the largest in the company’s global network, resumed partial operations late Wednesday. The Louisville hub employs more than 20,000 people, handles 300 daily flights, and sorts over 400,000 packages per hour.
Investigators are reviewing video footage from multiple sources, including security cameras and bystanders’ phones, to reconstruct the moments leading up to the crash. Flight records show that the MD-11 underwent maintenance in San Antonio for more than a month before returning to service in mid-October, though details about that work remain unclear.
As the NTSB continues its investigation, the grounding of the MD-11 fleets underscores the seriousness of the incident and the aviation industry’s continued focus on safety amid an aging fleet of cargo aircraft.
Tags: UPS, FedEx, MD-11, plane crash, Louisville, Kentucky, aviation safety, NTSB, Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, air cargo, Worldport, engine failure, investigation, pilot safety, flight recorder, air freight industry, transportation news, U.S. aviation, aircraft grounding, Kentucky crash
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