The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Wednesday released an update on its investigation of the Nov. 4, 2025, crash of UPS Flight 2976. Although the NTSB already released its preliminary report in late November, this update comes after materials analysis found new evidence of fatigue cracking in a critical engine mount component.
NTSB issues an update on its ongoing investigation into the Nov. 4 crash of a United Parcel Service Boeing MD-11F airplane shortly after takeoff from Kentucky’s Muhammad Ali International Airport. Download the six-page PDF: https://t.co/LHE49dvZJ9 pic.twitter.com/5MEJcuyMzz
— NTSB Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) January 14, 2026
The UPS flight of the Boeing MD-11F crashed shortly after takeoff from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, destroying the aircraft and resulting in the deaths of three crewmembers and 11 people on the ground. According to the NTSB, the airplane’s left engine and pylon separated from the wing shortly after rotation, followed by a fire near the left pylon wing attachment.
Investigators determined that the spherical bearing assembly from the left pylon aft mount bulkhead fractured into two sections, with fatigue cracking originating around the circumference of the bearing race at a design recess groove. The NTSB Materials Laboratory found that fatigue accounted for about 75% of the fracture surface, with the remainder consistent with overstress failure.
The design of the bearing assembly appears consistent with a part investigators said was previously cited in a 2011 Boeing service letter that documented four similar bearing race failures on three other MD-11 aircraft.
Preliminary flight data recorder information from the UPS flight showed normal aircraft and engine performance until about 20 seconds before the end of recorded data, when parameters from the No. 1 engine became unreliable and a fire indication was recorded.
The NTSB said further analysis will focus on aircraft performance and handling qualities following the separation of the left engine and pylon.
