I write today to strongly urge the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to issue an Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD) to permanently ground the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 from service
Urge the FAA to issue an Emergency Airworthiness Directive to permanently ground the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 from service.
Occurrences
sent a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), urging the agency to permanently ground the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 (MD-11) after the devastating crash of UPS Flight 2976 in Louisville last November.
Evidence
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FAA Emergency Airworthiness Directive 2025-23-51 for MD-11 aircraft required inspections and applicable corrective actions before further flight; the cited action was not a permanent retirement or permanent grounding order.
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The NTSB page says UPS Flight 2976 was a Boeing/McDonnell-Douglas MD-11F destroyed shortly after takeoff in Louisville on November 4, 2025, and lists the FAA as a party to the investigation.
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The NTSB update says the left engine and pylon separated shortly after rotation and that investigators were reviewing Boeing and FAA correspondence related to the MD-11 service letter and bearing issue.
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WSJ reported FedEx was preparing to return MD-11 cargo jets to service in May while awaiting the final FAA-approved procedure, after regulators grounded all MD-11s following the UPS crash.
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Reuters reported that FedEx resumed MD-11 cargo flights after the FAA lifted the grounding order.
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WSJ reported UPS completed the retirement of its MD-11 fleet and took a $137 million write-off tied to that retirement after the crash.
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CNN reported McGarvey emphasized that the NTSB would investigate the crash thoroughly. Available reporting located for this assessment did not show him urging FAA to issue a permanent MD-11 grounding directive.
Assessments
The available record shows the FAA issued only a temporary Emergency Airworthiness Directive requiring MD-11 inspections and corrective actions before further flight, not a permanent grounding from service. Later reporting indicates the FAA lifted the grounding and FedEx resumed MD-11 operations, while UPS voluntarily retired its own MD-11 fleet. The evidence also does not show McGarvey specifically urging the FAA to issue a permanent MD-11 grounding directive, only public comments about the crash investigation. Because neither the promised advocacy nor the permanent FAA outcome is documented, the promise was not delivered.