<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Federal aviation officials have issued an order for McDonnell Douglas MD-11 planes not to be flown pending further inspection, reinforcing cargo carriers’ decision to ground their fleets following a </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/videos/world/death-toll-rises-to-at-least-12-in-louisville-plane-crash/cmhns9q9e000o0hpcepq3ktxc" rel="" target="_blank" title="deadly crash"><span>deadly crash</span></a><span> at the UPS global aviation hub in Kentucky.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>UPS and FedEx said on Friday that they were grounding their fleets of McDonnell Douglas MD-11s “out of an abundance of caution,” and the Federal Aviation Administration's directive the following day sidelined the planes until inspection and correction of any problems. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In the Louisville crash, the jet's left engine detached during takeoff.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/queensland-premier-david-crisafulli-blasts-anthony-albanese-federal-government-over-hospital-funding/86b9bebf-c651-42eb-892b-4d00376f347c" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Queensland premier ends 'cannoli diplomacy' with PM over hospital funding snub</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“This condition could result in loss of continued safe flight and landing,” the FAA said, adding that the issue “is likely to exist or develop in other products of the same design”.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The crash, which occurred on Tuesday at UPS Worldport, killed 14 people, including the three pilots on the MD-11, which was headed for Honolulu.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>MD-11 aircraft make up about nine per cent of the UPS airline fleet and four per cent of the FedEx fleet, the companies said.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/louisville-kentucky-plane-crash-mcdonnell-douglas-md-11-grounded-usa/c8d0d556-7c1d-44a4-8bc6-95b79fd4c35f" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“We made this decision proactively at the recommendation of the aircraft manufacturer,” UPS said in a statement. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our employees and the communities we serve.”</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>FedEx said in an email that it was grounding the aircraft while it conducts “a thorough safety review based on the recommendation of the manufacturer”.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/queensland-carjackings-st-lawrence-police-crime/64469ef5-899a-4588-a7cc-007f7692dfed" rel="" target="_blank" title="Man, 18, charged after cat killed and driver assaulted in alleged carjacking spree"><strong><span>Man, 18, charged after cat killed and driver assaulted in alleged carjacking spree</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Boeing, which merged with McDonnell Douglas in 1997, said in a statement on its website that it “recommended to the three operators of the MD-11 Freighter that they suspend flight operations while additional engineering analysis is performed".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Western Global Airlines is the only other U.S. cargo airline that flies MD-11s, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The airline has 16 MD-11s in its fleet but 12 of them have already been put in storage. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The company did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment outside of business hours.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Boeing announced in 1998 that it would be phasing out its MD-11 jetliner production, with final deliveries due in 2000.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The UPS cargo plane, built in 1991, was nearly airborne Tuesday when a bell sounded in the cockpit, National Transportation Safety Board member Todd Inman said earlier this week. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>For the next 25 seconds, the bell rang and the pilots tried to control the aircraft as it barely lifted off the runway, its left wing ablaze and missing an engine, and then ploughed into the ground in a spectacular fireball.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The cockpit voice recorder captured the bell, which sounded about 37 seconds after the crew called for takeoff thrust, Inman said. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>There are different types of alarms with varying meanings, he said, and investigators haven’t determined why the bell rang, though they know the left wing was burning and the engine on that side had detached.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Inman said it would be months before a transcript of the cockpit recording is made public as part of that investigation process.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Jeff Guzzetti, a former federal crash investigator, said the bell likely was signalling the engine fire.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“It occurred at a point in the takeoff where they were likely past their decision speed to abort the takeoff,” Guzzetti told The Associated Press after Inman’s news conference.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“They were likely past their critical decision speed to remain on the runway and stop safely. … They’ll need to thoroughly investigate the options the crew may or may not have had.”</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Dramatic video captured the aircraft crashing into businesses and erupting in a fireball. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Footage from phones, cars and security cameras has given investigators evidence of what happened from many different angles.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Flight records suggest the UPS MD-11 that crashed underwent maintenance while it was on the ground in San Antonio for more than a month until mid-October. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It is not clear what work was done.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The UPS package handling facility in Louisville is the company’s largest. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The hub employs more than 20,000 people in the region, handles 300 flights daily and sorts more than 400,000 packages an hour.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>UPS Worldport operations resumed on Wednesday night with its Next Day Air, or night sort, operation, spokesperson Jim Mayer said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f"><em><strong><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent 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