UPS, FedEx grounding MD-ll planes

UPS and FedEx said they are grounding their fleets of McDonnell Douglas MD-I planes “out ofan abundance of caution” after a deadly crash at the UPS global aviation hub in Kentucky.

- By HaLiig GOLDEN AND BRUCE SCHREINER

UPS SAID it made the call “proactively” after Tuesday’s fatal crash in Kentucky.

(JIM VONDRUSKA Bloomberg)

The crash Tuesday at UPS Worldport in Louisville killed 14 people, including the three pilots on the MD-1L that was headed for Honolulu.

MD-1 aircrafts make up about 9%. of the UPS airline fleet and 4% of the FedEx fleet, the companies said.

“We made this decision proactively at the recommendation of the aircraft manufacturer,” a UPS statement said late Friday. “Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our employees and the communities we serve.”

FedEx said in an email that it will be grounding the aircraft while it conducts “a thorough safety review based on the recommendation of the manufacturer.”

Boeing, which merged with McDonnell Douglas in 1997, said in a statement on its website that it “recommended to the three operators of the MD-Il Freighter that they suspend flight operations while additional engineering analysis is performed.”