A tragic new detail has emerged from today's NTSB hearing into the deadly UPS Flight 2976 crash. The three crew members who lost their lives that November afternoon were originally supposed to fly a different aircraft entirely.The detail was highlighted today by journalist Will Guisbond, who shared a page from the NTSB's Operational Factors and Human Performance Group Chairmen's Factual Report.According to the report, the originally assigned aircraft for UPS Flight 2976 was registered N260UP, not the MD-11F that ultimately crashed. During the captain's walk-around, which was delegated to the relief officer, a fuel leak was discovered on N260UP and reported to maintenance. Maintenance ultimately determined that the aircraft was not airworthy.The crew waited approximately two hours while a new aircraft was prepared. The new assignment was N259UP, a 34-year-old MD-11F. That aircraft would crash moments after takeoff later that day, killing all three crew members on board and 11 people on the ground.The accident aircraft had recently spent six weeks grounded for repairs to a cracked fuel tank, and corrosion had been found along two structural beams in the fuselage. It re-entered service just a few weeks before the accident.A pre-flight inspection on one aircraft, intended to keep the crew safe, was the very moment that put them on a different aircraft with a far more serious problem hidden inside.Behind every accident report are real people and real families still grieving. Three UPS crew members boarded that morning expecting to come home. Eleven people on the ground had no idea what was coming. They deserve answers, and a future where no other family receives the call they did.The NTSB hearing continues tomorrow, with the second day focused on the design of the engine pylon, the structure that ultimately failed.
are all MD-11s still grounded since this happened?
>>535424711Was this the one where the engine flew off because the mount was probably damaged during maintenance? Are the maintainers DEI hires?
