Boeing told UPS engine flaw wasn't flight safety risk before crash, officials claim

New crash-investigation documents say Boeing told UPS that a critical engine-flaw risk was not a flight-safety issue before a fatal crash, and that UPS therefore did not mandate enhanced inspections. Investigators reported that UPS never required detailed bearing inspections inside the pylons connecting engines to wings on its MD-11 freighters, even though Boeing had recommended such inspections years earlier. UPS argued to the National Transportation Safety Board that it relied on Boeing’s incorrect assertion that bearing failures would not jeopardize flight safety. The crash happened last fall at Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport while the UPS aircraft attempted takeoff, accelerating down the runway in November, killing all three pilots and 12 people on the ground and injuring 23. Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration officials conceded during hearings that they misunderstood how a potential failure involving a steel bearing and metal sheath could break the lugs securing the engines. Aviation expert Jeff Guzzetti said Boeing, UPS, the FAA and maintenance provider STE San Antonio Aerospace all played a role.