By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, May 19 (Reuters) – The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday is reviewing reports of cracks in a key part during a two-day hearing into the fatal crash of a UPS MD-11 cargo plane in November in Kentucky that killed 15 people, including three crew members and 12 on the ground.
In January, the NTSB said a cracked part on the crashed jet was flagged in a Boeing 2011 report which said there had been four prior failures on three different airplanes. The NTSB said its investigation had found fatigue cracks in a support structure on the left pylon that connects to the wing and the plane’s engine known as the bearing race.
The NTSB said there were a series of reports of cracks in race parts on MD-11 planes in the prior decade. The hearing is reviewing the design requirements for the components as well as the Federal Aviation Administration’s oversight of the issue over the last two decades.
Last week, FedEx said it had begun resuming use of its MD-11 airplanes after the FAA lifted an order that had barred flights following the fatal UPS cargo crash. UPS retired its remaining MD-11 fleet of more than two dozen cargo jets at the end of last year.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
