UPS plane that crashed was 34 years old and recently underwent critical fuel tank maintenance

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY: A United Parcel Service (UPS) cargo plane crashed and burst into flames on Tuesday, November 4, killing at least 13 people.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the cargo jet required urgent work on its fuel tank in September. Flight records show the plane was grounded in San Antonio, Texas, for maintenance from September 3 to at least October 18.

FAA maintenance records show the aircraft required a permanent fuel tank repair before returning to service. The MD-11 aircraft was 34 years old, making it one of the older cargo planes still in service.

UPS cargo plane underwent repairs for rust and cracks

FAA’s Service Difficulty system reports show mechanics found rust in two areas of the plane’s bilge (the bottom of the fuselage) and a cracked stringer near the center wing fuel tank, according to Wave 3. Despite being 34 years old, UPS’s MD-11 freighter is still used for cargo due to its size and long range. UPS has 27 MD-11 planes and relies on a maintenance contractor in San Antonio.

The maintenance reports help the FAA to keep track of recurring problems so the agency can issue safety alerts or required fixes when needed. Right now, it’s not clear whether the issues discovered in September and October had anything to do with the crash.

The MD-11 is a three-engine jet, with the third engine mounted in the tail. When it was first introduced, three engines were seen as safer for long flights over oceans. Today, twin-engine jets are more fuel-efficient, but the MD-11 is still reliable for cargo operations.

As per CNN, older planes are often retired for fuel economy, not safety.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), a large burst of fire came from around the left wing as the MD-11 touched down. One of the plane’s three engines even broke off that wing.

UPS confirmed that Captain Richard Wartenberg, First Officer Lee Truitt, and International Relief Officer Captain Dana Diamond were the three pilots operating the plane. All three died in the crash. 

NTSB recovers black boxes as UPS plane crash investigation expands

The NTSB said they were able to successfully download the plane’s two “black boxes,” which include the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder.

NTSB investigator Todd Inman said the federal agency does not have any immediate safety concerns about the MD-11 aircraft model, which is owned by Boeing after its 1997 merger with McDonnell Douglas. UPS directed all questions to the NTSB, which is standard procedure in crash investigations. 

Wave 3 reports that air crashes usually have more than one cause. A first report comes out in about 30 days. According to aviation lawyer Jim Brauchle, despite the investigation, early reports don't always give away the full picture of the scenario.

“But sometimes you have to be careful because they can be, depending on who’s filling them out, you know, there’s no mandatory information, so you may not get the full picture," he concluded.