(NewsNation) — The National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report on the crash of a UPS flight in Louisville, Kentucky, found fatigue cracks caused the crash.
The Boeing MD-11F plane crashed shortly after taking off, killing the three crew members and 11 people on the ground. There were also 23 people injured by the crash.
Surveillance video showed the left engine and pylon separating plane as it rotated for takeoff, causing a fire near the wing that continued until the plane crashed.
The plane was only able to climb about 30 feet, clearing an airport fence before crashing in a storage yard that contained buildings, including a petroleum recycling facility.
According to the NTSB, the captain had 8,613 total flight hours, the first officer had 9,200 and the relief officer had 15,250. The first officer was flying the plane with the captain monitoring.
The agency found evidence of fatigue cracks and overstress failure on the left pylon aft mount lug, along with some other fatigue cracks on the left pylon materials.
The plane had accumulated 92,992 flight hours and 21,043 cycles and was maintained under a continuous maintenance program, with a visual inspection of the left pylon aft mount last completed in October of 2021.
Detailed, specialized inspection of the left pylon aft mount lugs would have been done at 29,200 cycles, and an inspection of the left wing clevis support would have been due at 28,000 cycles, but the plane had not reached those numbers.
The investigation into the crash is ongoing.