FedEx resumes MD-11 cargo flights after FAA lifts grounding order
Boeing’s repair plan replaces a key bearing and adds inspections, and FedEx says two MD-11s returned to revenue service after test flights.
- On Monday, FedEx resumed using its MD-11 airplanes after the Federal Aviation Administration lifted a grounding order following a fatal cargo plane crash in Kentucky last year.
- A UPS cargo plane crashed in Louisville last November, killing 15 people when an engine separated from the wing during takeoff, prompting the FAA to ground all MD-11s.
- Boeing developed a "means of compliance" approved by the FAA requiring a new bearing in the aft mount of each side pylon, plus inspections at "certain intervals" going forward.
- Two FedEx aircraft, N621FE and N521FE, returned to service Sunday, with revenue flights 985 and 980 departing Memphis for Miami and Los Angeles.
- The National Transportation Safety Board plans investigative hearings in Washington on May 19 and 20, while FedEx maintains long-term plans to eventually replace its MD-11 fleet.
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The MD-11 cargo planes, like the one in last fall's deadly UPS crash in Louisville, return to the air
The model of cargo plane that crashed in Kentucky last fall after an engine fell off a UPS jet as it was taking off resumed flying over the weekend.The Federal Aviation Administration said it approved Boeings proposed fix for the workhorse MD-11s after extensive review. And then FedEx started flying them to deliver packages again Sunday.The UPS plane crashed in November 2025 shortly after taking off once the left engine flew off the wing as the …
The Aviation Authority (FAA) had ordered the immobilization of all MD-11s after an accident on 4 November 2025.
The Toronto Star
The MD-11 cargo planes involved in last fall’s deadly UPS crash in Louisville return to the air
The model of cargo plane that crashed in Kentucky last fall after an engine fell off a UPS jet as it was taking off resumed flying over the weekend.
The McDonnell Douglas (MD-11) aircraft, including a copy operated by UPS crashed on take-off in November in the United States, received a green light from the U.S. regulator to resume service, according to the Aviation Authority (FAA).
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