PU 11: What Happened to UPS Flight 2976?

N259UP taking off during the accident flight, its No. 1 engine missing, the left wing engulfed in flames (UPS)

On 4 November, an MD-11 cargo plane operated by UPS crashed in Louisville, Kentucky, killing fourteen people. We know that the airplane lost its left engine on take-off. But why did that happen?

Punching Upwards, Episode 11 for 23 November 2025

Topic: Aviation / UPS Flight 2976

Credits

Thanks to Michael Mullan-Jensen and Fadi Mansour for subscribing to the podcast on Substack and supporting it financially! Additional thanks to Sir Galteran who continues to provide hefty financial backing via Fountain.fm!

Sources

1. Aviation Investigation Preliminary Report DCA26MA024 (UPS Flight 2976), NTSB, November 2025

2. Crash: UPS MD11 at Louisville on Nov 4th 2025, burst into flames on takeoff, The Aviation Herald, 5 November 2025

3. NTSB releases new images and preliminary report on UPS cargo plane crash, NBC News, 21 November 2025

4. Aircraft Accident Report AAR-79-17 (American Airlines Flight 191), NTSB, December 1979

5. Gyroscopic Precession, AOPA Foundation, 29 January 2012

6. Extended Diversion Time Operations (EDTO) Manual, ICAO, 2017

7. Owner’s & Operator’s Guide: MD-11 Family, Aircraft Commerce, Issue 47, August 2006

MD-11 Flight Crew Operations Manual, Revision 58KL, KLM – Royal Dutch Airlines, 16 November 2009

12.5MB ∙ PDF file

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