Cracked part flagged before Kentucky plane crash that killed 15, NTSB says

The National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday it is reviewing reports of cracks in a wing mount that were flagged before a UPS cargo plane crashed in Kentucky in November, killing 15 people.

The crash of the MD-11 on takeoff from Louisville killed all three crew members and 12 people on the ground. Twenty-three others on the ground were injured when the plane struck an auto parts recycling facility, sparking a fire.

A Boeing report from 2011 had identified a cracked part on the same type of aircraft, the NTSB said. That report noted four previous failures on three different airplanes.

The NTSB investigation found fatigue cracks in a support structure on the left pylon connecting the wing to the engine, known as the bearing race.

The agency also cited a series of reports of cracks in bearing race parts on MD-11 planes over the prior decade.

The two-day NTSB hearing, which began Tuesday, will also examine design requirements for those components and the Federal Aviation Administration’s oversight of the issue over the past 20 years.

FedEx said it resumed using its MD-11 fleet after the FAA lifted an order grounding those planes following the UPS crash. UPS retired its remaining two dozen MD-11 jets soon after the accident.

Ahead of the hearing, the NTSB released an animated video showing the components that failed on Nov. 11. Airport surveillance video showed the engine breaking off the jet, which then lost climb capability and crashed in a fireball.

Families of several victims attended the hearing in Washington, D.C.

“These families are devastated and certainly deserve answers,” said attorney Bradley Cosgrove, a partner at Clifford Law Offices, which filed the first wrongful death claim in Kentucky related to the crash.

Cosgrove leads a team of lawyers, pilots and technical experts at the firm.

In her opening statement, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy addressed the families: “Please know: Your loved ones are the reason we’re here. We want to find out what happened.”

Additional details emerged as the NTSB released more than 2,000 pages of documents. The ill-fated plane had been pressed into service to substitute for another aircraft that had a fuel leak, investigators said.

The flight crew who died had shared good-natured banter with the maintenance team during a second pre-flight inspection about “meeting again” so soon.

The NTSB planned to call several witnesses, including representatives from Boeing, the plane’s manufacturer. The agency’s final report is unlikely to be ready for more than a year after the crash.

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed reporting.