Overview
- Airport surveillance frames show the left engine and pylon detaching during rotation and arcing over the wing as a fire ignited, with the jet failing to climb above about 30 feet.
- NTSB materials analysis found fatigue cracks and overstress fractures in the left pylon’s aft mount lugs and a circumferential fracture of the spherical bearing.
- The aircraft struck a UPS warehouse, a storage yard, and a petroleum recycling facility, leaving a debris path of roughly 3,000 feet, with 14 dead—including three crew—and 23 injured.
- The 34-year-old MD-11F had about 93,000 flight hours and 21,000 cycles; the left pylon aft mount’s last required visual inspection was in October 2021, with special detailed inspections not yet due.
- Investigators have downloaded two hours of good-quality CVR audio and 63 hours of FDR data and are examining recovered hardware, with a final NTSB report expected in 18–24 months.