Berliner Tageblatt - MD-11, aircraft in fatal crash, cleared for US flight once more

"After extensive review, the FAA approved Boeing’s protocol for safely returning MD-11 airplanes to service," an FAA spokesperson said.

The agency had ordered the grounding of all MD-11s on November 9, 2025, days after an accident that killed 14 people in Louisville, Kentucky, including 11 on the ground.

The cargo plane, operated by delivery company UPS and bound for Hawaii, crashed after one of its engines detached during takeoff and caught fire. The aircraft exploded when it hit industrial buildings near the airport.

According to a preliminary report released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on November 20, a crucial component attaching the engines to the wings showed fatigue cracks and broke during takeoff.

An NTSB investigative hearing is scheduled for May 19.

Boeing -- which acquired McDonnell Douglas in 1997 -- announced on Monday that, following the regulatory green light, it had sent MD-11 owners instructions for carrying out inspections on their aircraft.

UPS grounded the fleet four days after the accident, and its chief executive announced in late January that the company would speed up the retirement of the entire fleet, which began in 2023.

"UPS accelerated and completed the retirement of our MD-11s as part of our broader fleet modernization efforts, and the aircraft is no longer part of our operation," a spokesperson told AFP on Monday.

FedEx, a competitor, by contrast, had been eagerly waiting to put its own MD-11s back into service.

During the presentation of quarterly results on March 19, Chief Financial Officer John Dietrich said he expected a return to service toward the end of the current quarter.

According to a statement sent to AFP on Monday, two FedEx MD-11s resumed commercial flights as early as Sunday, after "confirmation that the required repairs and inspections" specified by Boeing and approved by the FAA had been completed, and after test flights.

The two aircraft departed from Memphis Airport in Tennessee, one bound for Miami, Florida and the other for Los Angeles, California.

J.Fankhauser--BTB