The Federal Aviation Administration cleared Boeing’s repair plan for the MD-11 wide-body cargo jets over the weekend, authorizing FedEx to return the aircraft to service six months after a detached engine caused a fatal crash near Louisville, Kentucky. FedEx began flying the MD-11s again on Sunday, confirming it had complied with the manufacturer’s directives to replace a critical spherical bearing in the engine pylons and implement stepped-up inspection schedules. The company said it coordinated directly with Boeing and federal regulators to certify the fleet, stating that safety remains its highest priority.
The authorization comes after a UPS MD-11 crashed in November 2025 shortly after taking off from Muhammad Ali International Airport. The aircraft’s left engine separated from the wing as it accelerated down the runway, killing the three pilots on board and 12 people on the ground.
The FAA had grounded the entire MD-11 fleet following the crash. While UPS chose to retire its MD-11s permanently earlier this year, FedEx maintained its commitment to returning the jets to service. The planes make up a small fraction of the delivery giant’s operations, and FedEx had already announced a long-term plan to phase them out in favor of more efficient cargo aircraft.
Boeing’s fix targets the spherical bearing that helps secure the engines to the wings. The National Transportation Safety Board has reported that Boeing documented four previous failures of the same component across three aircraft in 2011, though the manufacturer determined at the time that the wear would not result in a “safety of flight condition.” The MD-11 was originally designed and built by McDonnell Douglas before Boeing acquired the company.
Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti, who previously investigated crashes for both the NTSB and the FAA, said the timeline to restore the planes to the air was unexpectedly long given how quickly investigators identified the likely mechanical failure. “I’m confident that the solution will work, and I would like to see the MD-11s back up in the air,” Guzzetti said. “It will be a safe airplane with regards to its engines after these corrective actions are made.”
Other industry observers had speculated the aging jets might be permanently grounded if the repairs proved too costly, but Boeing concluded that replacing the bearings and intensifying inspections was sufficient to address the defect.
Bradley Cosgrove, an aviation attorney representing several families from the Louisville crash, said the return to service raises questions about the depth of the regulatory review. “We hope the FAA does a thorough job of investigating the fixes before the MD-11 fleet is allowed to return to flight,” Cosgrove said.
The NTSB is scheduled to hold two days of investigative hearings next week to delve deeper into the sequence of events that led to the engine separation. Western Global Airlines, another carrier that operated the aircraft, did not respond to requests for comment regarding the FAA’s decision.