Boeing knew of engine defect on UPS plane that crashed in Kentucky, report says

The Guardian - World NewsCenter-LeftEN 3 min read 100% complete by Richard LuscombeJanuary 15, 2026 at 03:40 PM

AI Summary

medium article 3 min

A preliminary NTSB report revealed that Boeing was aware of a defect in the engine part suspected of causing the November 2025 UPS cargo plane crash in Louisville, Kentucky, which killed 15 people. The defect, a failure of the "spherical bearing race" assembly, had occurred at least four times previously on three separate aircraft. In 2011, Boeing issued a service letter to MD-11 owners, including UPS and FedEx, advising them of the issue, but did not consider it a flight safety concern, recommending inspection only during scheduled maintenance. UPS and FedEx temporarily grounded their MD-11 fleets after the crash. The crash, which involved an engine fire and detachment, is the subject of a lawsuit alleging UPS negligence for continuing to operate the MD-11 despite known maintenance problems.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Jim Mayer 30% Muhammad Ali International Airport 40% FedEx 50% McDonnell Douglas ×250% Louisville ×360% National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) ×370% UPS ×580% Boeing ×690%

Keywords

engine defect 90% plane crash 90% boeing 80% md-11 70% ntsb 70% flight safety 60% ups 60% maintenance problems 50% spherical bearing race 50% investigation 40%

Sentiment Analysis

Very Negative

Score: -0.80

Source Transparency

Source

The Guardian - World News

Political Lean

Center-Left (-0.40)

Far LeftCenterFar Right

Classification Confidence

90%

Geographic Perspective

Louisville

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).

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engine defect plane crash boeing md-11 ntsb flight safety ups maintenance problems spherical bearing race investigation

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