After the engine flew off a UPS cargo plane and caused a crash that killed 15 people in Kentucky, investigators quickly discovered cracks in parts of the engine mount. Then they found records showing similar flaws had been found during maintenance on the wings of 10 other planes — most of which had not been reported to the FAA.
The National Transportation Safety Board focused Tuesday on why no one in government or the industry spotted the concerning trend and took action to prevent it before last November's crash. Investigators also released more than 2,000 pages of related documents during a two-day hearing in Washington to examine the disaster's root causes.
The engine separated from the MD-11's left wing as it accelerated down the runway Louisville's Muhammad Ali International Airport. The crash killed all three pilots on the plane and 12 people on the ground. Twenty-three more were injured. There has only been one other crash involving a similar plane model when the engine fell off.
