UPS (UPS) and FedEx (FDX), two of the leading cargo airlines in the world, have grounded their fleets of McDonnell Douglas MD-11 planes on the recommendations of the aircraft’s manufacturer, Boeing (BA), after the plane was involved in a deadly crash this week.
The decision came after an MD-11 aircraft operated by UPS (UPS) crashed on Wednesday, immediately after departing for Honolulu from Muhammad Ali International Airport in Louisville, Ky., killing all three pilots aboard and another 11 civilians on the ground.
“Out of an abundance of caution and in the interest of safety, we have made the decision to temporarily ground our MD-11 fleet,” UPS (UPS) said in a statement late Friday, adding that contingency plans are in place to ensure an uninterrupted service to its customers.
“We made this decision proactively at the recommendation of the aircraft manufacturer,” the company noted, and added that grounding takes effect immediately and MD-11s make up about 9% of its airline fleet.
Issuing a similar statement, FedEx (FDX) spokeswoman Heather Wilson said, “Out of an abundance of caution, we have made the decision to immediately ground our MD-11 fleet as we conduct a thorough safety review based on the recommendation of the manufacturer.” MD-11s are around 4% of the FedEx fleet.
Boeing (BA), which acquired MD-11 maker McDonnell Douglas in the 1990s, said in a statement early Saturday that it recommended the grounding of the wide-body airliner as further analysis is underway.
“With safety as our top priority, we recommended to the three operators of the MD-11 Freighter that they suspend flight operations while additional engineering analysis is performed,” The New York Times reported, quoting Boeing (BA).
Western Global Airlines, the other operator of MD-11s, did not immediately respond to requests for comments.