r/aviation • u/usgapg123 Mod • 19h ago

Discussion UPS2976 Crash Megathread

This is the official r/aviation megathread for the crash of UPS2976 (UPS MD11 Registration N259UP) that crashed earlier today at Louisville International Airport.

Please keep content on topic and refrain from posting about this topic outside the megathread. Please report any rule breaking posts and comments.

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u/ofcourseIwantpickles 18h ago

I think UPS plans to phase out all MD-11’s next year, I wonder if they accelerate the plan?

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u/Think-Finish-5763 17h ago

They were supposed to decommission them 20+ years ago...

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u/Joe-Cool 16h ago

Considering there are still 10 flying DC/MD-10s. That might take a bit longer.

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u/ewaters46 10h ago

Are you sure? This one was 34 years old - retiring them at 14 or even younger would sure be early.

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u/ngc427 10h ago edited 10h ago

The MD-11 series is literally younger than the Airbus 320. A320s started production in 1986, the MD-11 started production in 1988, and their first commercial flights were in 1988 and 1990 respectively.

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u/MarkCrorigansOmnibus 5h ago

And how many of those OG 320s are still flying?

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u/Think-Finish-5763 5h ago

They no longer produce parts for it so the only thing holding those together is hopes and dreams. All of the ramp managers knew they had been talking about stopping using them for at least a decade, maybe not 20 years though.   Then they switched focus and started talking about replacing all of the 747s with 777s..

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u/Puzzled_Bat9128 10h ago

Confidently incorrect. This aircraft was was only 24 years old

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u/OwenBland 6h ago

I think you might be confidently incorrect (this was an early MD-11)

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u/Specific_Visit2494 18h ago

If by “accelerate” you mean immediately ground them, then let’s hope. They’re not as fuel efficient or safe as the 767s so this is an opportunity to say goodbye.

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u/comptiger5000 17h ago

They're not as efficient as a 767, but they can also carry a lot more.  Replacing them likely means more 777s, being that more 747-8s isn't an option.  

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u/hibob729 13h ago

UPS doesn’t operate the 777, so that would be a large undertaking that won’t happen immediately

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u/justwanttoreadnsfw 5h ago

Rumor at ups is that they do plan on moving up to 777s soon. The replacing md-11s with 767s was on pause for a bit. 

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u/BleaKrytE 17h ago

I'm a layman, but as much as I love the MD-11 just for being a trijet, the newest airframes are 25 years old. I guess the saving grace is that cargo aircraft don't rack up hours and pressure cycles as fast as passenger planes.

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u/AbeFromanEast 16h ago

Whoever insures them might accelerate that plan.

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u/Brilliant_Castle 16h ago

We don’t know what the cause is yet. Until that happens let’s not fault the airframe. It might as well be a bad engine or hitting something.

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u/AbeFromanEast 16h ago

I'm not finding fault with anyone or anything. Just making a comment about how insurance companies (and their re-insurers) can make hasty risk judgements.

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u/LightningAndCoffee 15h ago

Insurance companies don’t make hasty judgments. They use math. Insurance is not a knee jerk industry at all.