UPS and FedEx suspended MD-11 operations after Boeing's Safety Review Board determined that additional engineering analysis was necessary. The move comes days after a UPS cargo plane crashed in Louisville and killed at least 14 people.

UPS and FedEx have temporarily grounded all 57 MD-11 freighter aircraft in their fleets to conduct checks following the catastrophic accident involving one of the planes this week. The post UPS and FedEx halt MD-11 flying to conduct safety review appeared first on FreightWaves.

Airlines stopped flying MD-11s mainly because the aircraft initially failed to meet its promised performance, particularly in range and fuel efficiency, which led to many airlines canceling orders or replacing them with more efficient planes such as the Boeing 777 and Airbus A330, according to the Infinite Flight blog.

The last delivery of an MD-11 was a freighter-built aircraft for Lufthansa Cargo in early 2001, 11 years after the first MD-11 delivery, which was a passenger aircraft to Finnair. Two hundred MD-11s were delivered by McDonnell Douglas, later Boeing, and almost 70 remain in service today, with some additional aircraft in storage.

The FAA has prohibited all MD-11 aircraft from flying after the deadly crash of a UPS MD-11 cargo jet this week. The post FAA grounds all MD-11 freighter aircraft for inspection appeared first on FreightWaves.