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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Edward Helmore and agencies

Cracked part had been flagged ahead of Kentucky plane crash that killed 15 people

smoke rises into the sky
Plumes of smoke rise from the area of a UPS cargo plane crash on 4 November 2025, in Louisville, Kentucky. Photograph: Jon Cherry/AP

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) revealed on Tuesday that it is reviewing reports of cracks in a wing mount before the left engine sheared off from a UPS freight airplane on takeoff from Louisville, Kentucky, in November, resulting in a crash that killed 15 people.

That information surfaced at the beginning of a two-day hearing into the crash of the delivery service’s MD-11, which left all three crew members and 12 people on the ground dead. An additional 23 people on the ground were injured as an auto parts recycling plant ignited after the freighter crashed into it.

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