INSIDE THE NTSB HEARINGS ON THE UPS FLIGHT 2976 CRASH

What the NTSB hearings revealed

Attorneys Sam Aguiar and Jon Hollan observed in person this week as NTSB investigative hearings into the crash of UPS Flight 2976 exposed a chilling pattern of corporate negligence, concealed evidence, and systemic regulatory failure. Evidence established that Boeing, UPS, ST Engineering, and the FAA each had critical information, repeated warning signs, and direct opportunities to act before Flight 2976 went down.

Boeing had warnings going back to 2002

It was revealed that Boeing had notice in 2002 that components were failing and destroying the critical structural lugs that attach the engines to the wings of MD-11’s. While Boeing eventually issued benign “Service Letters” acknowledging that bearing race fractures had been found in service, its operational safety process classified the issue as “not a safety of flight condition” and omitted that, in four of the five known failures, the damage was severe enough to require full structural bulkhead replacements.

Two decades of downplayed warnings

For the next two decades, warning signs regarding the MD-11’s defective pylon bearings were downplayed or even ignored. Meanwhile, the FAA’s Service Difficulty Report database was dysfunctional and effectively blind to safety trends, and Boeing treated repeated structural failures as little more than additional data points. This resulted in a dangerous “fly to failure” loop that persisted for years.

A 2007 Boeing presentation confirmed that the failure could cause the loss of a load path between the wing and the engine pylon, and a report of an actual crack in the lug that same year was never even included in the safety analysis. This was before Boeing redesigned an optional bearing to eliminate the defect, turning a known fix for a deadly defect into a mere suggestion. Boeing also created an inspection task intended to catch the migrating bearing before it could destroy the lugs, but never actually built it into the maintenance program with a required interval.

A 1979 warning the FAA called an economic burden

As the public was previously made aware by the NTSB, an engine and pylon tearing away from this family of aircraft during takeoff occurred once before, on a DC-10 in 1979. After that disaster, the NTSB asked the FAA to fix the very reporting system that failed again here. The FAA closed that recommendation as “unacceptable” and called it an economic burden. Forty-six years later, the same family of aircraft and the same kind of failure took fifteen more lives. We refuse to let that warning be ignored a third time.

UPS fell behind FedEx on the fix

UPS and FedEx were advised 15 years ago that the redesigned bearing was available and would eliminate the risks posed by components that had failed on multiple aircraft. FedEx followed this guidance to retrofit its fleet with the redesigned bearing. UPS engineering did not.

“It’s unfortunate and disappointing that our hometown, Big Brown, has fallen so far behind FedEx in prioritizing aircraft safety. Hundreds of these planes tower over us every day and night. Thousands of hero pilots from this community fly them. They deserve better.”

What happened at the maintenance contractor

The public learned more about the operations of UPS’s maintenance contractor, ST Engineering, which housed the aircraft for servicing from September through October 18, 2025. The crew, most of whom lacked certifications, failed to identify a bearing already cracked across roughly 75% of its surface. UPS’s own audit of the contractor, completed just ten days before the crash, found outdated maintenance manuals in use and parts signed off as “serviceable” despite visible defects. When a lead mechanic was asked whether he had checked the references he was certifying, the response was, “Do I check every reference? To be honest, no.” A mechanic asked about a required engine support tool, testified, “Sir, I don’t even know what it looks like.” In fact, only four of the twenty technicians on the line held FAA mechanic certificates, and a contracted technician’s quality-control audit could take as little as three to fifteen minutes and never involve even looking at the plane. Even after learning this, UPS allowed the subject aircraft, which had just been at this facility for a month and a half, to remain in service without requiring a more thorough inspection by compliant personnel.

Records the parties could not produce

The hearing also exposed gaps that the parties could not explain. Witnesses for UPS and the ST Engineering contractor repeatedly told NTSB investigators that they did not have the requested records. Boeing’s representative testified that he was not aware of Boeing’s own 2008 written instruction requiring that a separated bearing component be removed and replaced prior to further flight. The NTSB sent every party home with homework to produce data they should have brought on day one, underscoring the attitudes of the corporations, even after 15 lives were lost.

Holding every party accountable

“Fifteen lives were stolen because corporate and regulatory entities viewed routine maintenance as too burdensome and expensive. What we saw this week included manufacturing deceit, regulatory blindness, sloppy maintenance, and corporate complacency. At the end of the day, we will not allow any of these entities to hide behind one another’s blame. Every one of them had a chance to stop this, and every one of them will be held fully accountable.”

What happens next

The NTSB has not yet issued its final report, and its investigation continues. Parties have until June 19, 2026, to file proposed findings. Our firm will not stop until this culture of concealment is dismantled and every responsible party answers for the lives shattered on November 4. Our community and these grieving families deserve systemic change to prevent a recurrence, and that is exactly what we will work to deliver.

This is one of the most significant aviation cases in Kentucky and across the country, and it is far from over. Follow Sam Aguiar Injury Lawyers and check back here for updates as it moves forward.

“Our clients lost husbands, wives, parents, and children to a culture that treated a known mechanical flaw as somebody else’s problem to solve. We intend to hold all of them accountable.”

About Sam Aguiar Injury Lawyers

Sam Aguiar Injury Lawyers is a personal injury firm founded in 2010, representing people harmed by others’ negligence. The firm has offices in Louisville and Lexington and works across Kentucky. Jon Hollan leads the firm’s truck and commercial vehicle work, with a focus on federal motor carrier regulations, black-box and electronic data, and corporate maintenance failures. Sam Aguiar and Jon Hollan were both named 2026 Super Lawyers. The firm’s statement on the UPS Flight 2976 hearings was distributed nationally via AP News.

More from our firm:

• Negligent maintenance cases
• Truck Talk with Jon Hollan
• What the Supreme Court’s truck accident ruling means for Kentucky

Facts and quoted testimony in this statement are drawn from the National Transportation Safety Board public docket for the UPS Flight 2976 investigation, accident number DCA26MA024, available at ntsb.gov. An NTSB investigative hearing is a fact-finding proceeding; the NTSB has not issued a final report or probable cause finding in this matter.