Saturday will mark eight months since the tragic crash of UPS Airlines flight 2976 in Louisville, Kentucky. While the cause of the accident was fairly evident from the start, namely a catastrophic left engine separation on takeoff, ascertaining who exactly was to blame and why has proven to be more complex. Now, however, in a post-hearing NTSB submission, UPS has pointed the finger at Boeing.
Indeed, according to reports by outlets such as FOX Business and The Independent, the US planemaker advised the cargo airline that a flaw in the engines of the McDonnell Douglas MD-11F, the jet involved in the crash, did not pose a flight safety risk. Boeing is said to have told UPS that bearing failures in the pylons would not compromise safety, leading the carrier to forego advanced inspection.
Eight months on from the crash of UPS flight 2976 in Louisville, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) remains busy with the investigation into the accident. On this front, new developments have shown that while UPS had not undertaken advanced bearing inspections of the pylons that hold the wing-mounted engines in place, it had specifically chosen not to do so on Boeing’s advice.
Indeed, UPS argues that it had been advised by the US planemaker that the jet’s flight safety would not be compromised in the event of an issue with the engine pylons’ bearings.
“Relying on Boeing’s representations that the issue was not safety-of-flight and that existing MPD inspections were sufficient, UPS determined that no additional changes to its maintenance program were necessary beyond what was already being performed.”
Experts Suggest That Multiple Parties Are To Blame
Plane crashes are complex matters. While we, as the general public, desire the closure of knowing what happened and why, accidents rarely have a single point of failure; multiple factors are at play more often than not. According to The Independent, this is the opinion of aviation safety expert and former crash investigator Jeff Guzzetti regarding the accident involving flight 2976.
Guzzetti highlighted that, in addition to Boeing and UPS Airlines themselves, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and STE San Antonio Aerospace, an aviation maintenance company, also contributed in one way or another. He explained that “to some degree, all four have some role to play,” adding that “safety is a shared responsibility, and I think the NTSB’s task now is to apportion that responsibility.”
The firms at the heart of the investigation will hope to avoid blame when all is said and done. On this front, Guzzetti says that “there are just lots of subtleties and semantics that these four entities are using, but, in the end, this got missed.” For now, the investigation continues, with the incorrect advice that UPS is accusing Boeing of providing, highlighting the importance of communication.
A bizarre case of ‘deep fake’ black box recordings.
Flight 2976 departed Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF) in Kentucky for Daniel K. Inouye Airport (HNL) in Hawaii on the evening of November 4, 2025. Unfortunately, while taking off, its left engine separated from the wing, with the resulting damage causing the aircraft, a MD-11F that bore the registration N259UP, to crash just a few seconds later.
The plane came down in an industrial estate just beyond the runway, with the impact and resulting fire sadly killing all three members of the crew who were onboard the trijet as well as another 12 people on the ground, where a further 22 were injured. The accident prompted UPS Airlines to temporarily ground its McDonnell Douglas MD-11F, and the carrier eventually opted for a full-scale retirement.
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