The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will hold a two-day investigative hearing in May as it continues its probe into the November 2025 crash of a UPS cargo flight shortly after departure from Louisville, Kentucky, the agency announced Thursday.
The hearing is scheduled for May 19–20 at NTSB headquarters in Washington, D.C., and will be livestreamed. Officials said a witness list, agenda, and additional hearing details will be released in the coming weeks.
The accident involved an MD-11F operating as UPS Flight 2976, a scheduled cargo service from Louisville to Honolulu. The aircraft was destroyed after impacting terrain shortly after takeoff on November 4, 2025. All three crewmembers aboard were killed. The crash also resulted in significant loss of life on the ground, including 11 fatalities. More than 20 others were injured in the surrounding area.
The NTSB released its preliminary report in November, noting that the aircraft was unable to stay airborne after its left engine and pylon separated from the wing. Investigators then updated the report in January after new findings showed the left pylon aft mount spherical bearing failed after a fatigue crack developed around a design groove, ultimately causing the assembly to separate. Roughly three-quarters of the fracture showed fatigue damage, with the remaining portion consistent with overstress failure, according to the report.
The NTSB said investigative hearings are used to collect factual information needed to determine the circumstances and probable cause of major transportation accidents. While the sessions are open to the public and will be livestreamed, participation is limited to board members, investigators, sworn witnesses, and designated parties.
The agency has not yet outlined specific topics that will be addressed during the hearing, but said it is part of its ongoing effort to build a complete factual record of the accident.
I had one year of experience in the L1011 as FO with EAL between B727 FO and Capt. After L1011 simulator training we went on a local flight and were taught the proceedure for single engine flight at altitude as the engines had shown to get out of balance and cause explosive failures. Luckly the center engines never failed and since then the engines are powerful enough not to need 3 engines.
The proceedure was simply, All throttles full power, Falps and gear up! If the ground was avoided it worked.
I still want to stress that flying experience will make the routine flying better - But non recurring understanding and proceedures will drift away!! Future AI training may be an answer to avoid the expense of a SO course every 5 years. Small video cameras can quickly verify problems. My son who has a college degree in welding sent me a report about 3 workers in a room above an open oil tank could not interpret that the guages for the tank showed the tank was about to overflow and when it did the 3 were creamated in the insuing fire!
Certainly this MD-11 accident was caused by the maintance depts., but it may have been salavgeable.
Arnold Allison, pushing age 90.