US officials have issued an emergency order banning flights of the model of plane involved in a deadly crash in Kentucky last week, pending inspection.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued the Emergency Airworthiness Directive (AD) for McDonnell Douglas MD-11 aircraft after a UPS plane bound for Honolulu crashed on take-off in Louisville on Tuesday evening, killing 14 people. The victims included three pilots.
Delivery firms UPS and FedEx had already grounded their fleets of the planes on Friday “out of an abundance of caution and in the interest of safety”.
The FAA said the order, which came following a recommendation by its manufacturer Boeing, was prompted after “an accident where the left-hand engine and pylon detached from the airplane”.
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A spokesperson for the authority added: “The cause of the detachment is currently under investigation. This condition could result in the loss of continued safe flight and landing.
“The FAA is issuing this AD because the agency has determined the unsafe condition is likely to exist or develop in other products of the same type design.
“The AD prohibits further flight until the airplane is inspected and all applicable corrective actions are performed.”
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The MD-11 was first manufactured by McDonnell Douglas in 1988, until its merger with Boeing in 1997.
It was once used by commercial airlines, including Finnair and KLM, as a passenger jet, but was retired in 2014, and is now used only as a freight plane.
Government shutdown impacts commercial flights
It came as more than 1,300 commercial flights were cancelled in the US on Saturday because of an FAA order, unrelated to the Kentucky crash, to reduce air traffic amid the ongoing government shutdown.
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The deadlock in Washington has resulted in shortages of air traffic control staff, who have not been paid for weeks.
Officials have warned that the number of daily cancellations could rise in the coming days unless the political row is resolved.
