The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued an emergency airworthiness directive on Saturday (November 8), banning all Boeing model MD-11 and MD-11F flights.
The emergency directive issuance followed the UPS cargo flight crash on November 4. The aircraft was heading from Louisville, Kentucky to Honolulu. The jet crashed shortly after takeoff, which killed at least 14 people — including three of the aircraft's crew members.
Flight 2976 had crashed around 5:15pm local time.
The FAA said the left-hand engine and pylon detached from the airplane during takeoff.
“The cause of the detachment is currently under investigation,” the FAA said. “This condition could result in loss of continued safe flight and landing.”
The aircraft types are banned until “the airplane is inspected and all applicable corrective actions are performed” through a FAA-approved method.
The directive added: “The FAA considers this AD to be an interim action. If final action is later identified, the FAA might consider further rulemaking then.”
On November 7, UPS said it would ground its fleet of MD-11s.
“Out of an abundance of caution and in the interest of safety, we have made the decision to temporarily ground our MD-11 fleet," the company said in a statement. "MD-11s are approximately 9% of the UPS Airlines fleet. The grounding is effective immediately.”
UPS said the decision came after Boeing recommended MD-11 operators to suspend flight operations. The shipping company said contingency plans are in place to continue its services.
During a media briefing on November 7, NTSB member Todd Inman said Flight 2976's black box picked up the recordings of a “repeating bell” that sounded around 37 seconds after crew called for takeoff thrust and persisted for 25 seconds until the recording ended.
“During this time, the crew engaged in efforts to attempt to control the aircraft before the crash,” said Inman.
The US transportation safety board is now reviewing the recording and said it will produce a written transcript, which will be made public “several months from now”.
Additionally, he said a “bulk” of the pylon was still attached to the left engine when it detached. The components are undergoing further examination.