Release of what FedEx $FDX described in the memo as "the final, FAA-approved procedure" remains a prerequisite before the carrier will put the jets back in the air. A staff town hall focused on the MD-11 is set for May 6, and flight schedules reviewed by The Journal show at least two of the aircraft penciled in for departures before mid-month.
Authorities grounded the MD-11 after a UPS cargo jet crashed just after takeoff from Louisville's Muhammad Ali International Airport in November, killing the three crew members aboard and 12 people on the ground. The National Transportation Safety Board found evidence of fatigue cracks in a part connecting the plane's left engine to its wing — an engine that detached and fell onto the airfield during the crash.
In the aftermath, UPS decided to phase out all of its MD-11s, a move that came with a $137 million write-off. At the time of the crash, those 26 jets represented roughly 9% of the total UPS Airlines fleet.
A January statement from the NTSB revealed that knowledge of cracks in MD-11 bearing assemblies had existed at Boeing $BA for close to 15 years. Operators were notified of at least four documented instances of such cracks through a 2011 industry letter, yet no mandatory replacement of the affected parts was ever ordered.
