UPS Saw No Need for Changes After 2011 Boeing Defect Letter (1)

A US safety investigator said United Parcel Service Inc. decided not to take further action after reviewing a 2011 service letter from Boeing Co. that flagged failures of a key structural component in the type of plane that later crashed in Louisville, Kentucky.

Investigators probing the 2025 accident found Boeing issued a service letter in 2008 informing operators of McDonnell Douglas MD-11F cargo jets of fractures in a component of the plane’s engine mount called the spherical bearing that helps uniformly distribute loads across the structure. At the time, however, the planemaker determined the problem wouldn’t result in a safety ...