United Parcel Service’s (UPS) fleet of MD-11 aircraft, grounded in the wake of a deadly crash in Louisville, Kentucky, will not be back in service in time for the busy holiday season, leaving the company to rely on “contingency plans” to complete deliveries.
“Regarding the MD-11 fleet, Boeing’s ongoing evaluation shows that inspections and potential repairs will be more extensive than initially expected” and could take months, UPS Airlines president Bill Moore said in a memo to employees cited by the Associated Press.
On November 4, a Boeing (BA) MD-11 operated by UPS (UPS) leaving the Louisville Muhammad Ali Airport bound for Hawaii crashed in a Louisville industrial area immediately after takeoff. The crash killed 14 people, including 11 on the ground, and injured another 23 leading the Federal Aviation Administration to issue an emergency airworthiness directive to other MD-11 operators, including those planes operated by FedEx (FDX).
UPS (UPS) grounded its own fleet “out of an abundance of caution and in the interest of safety.”
The black box data shows the aircraft only reached an altitude of 30 feet before a fire in the left engine triggered the crash.
The UPS MD-11 fleet – accounting for 9% of the company’s total fleet of aircraft — is now grounded “indefinitely” and not expected to be returned to service for several months.