Investigators in the UPS Flight 2976 was a scheduled domestic cargo flight from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Louisville, Kentucky, to Honolulu, Hawaii, that crashed shortly after takeoff on November 4, 2025 are focusing on maintenance.
NTSB spokesperson Todd Inman said at a press conference that a little over 30 seconds after the crew called for takeoff, an alarm was heard.
“About 37 seconds after the crew called for takeoff thrust, a repeating bell was heard on the CVR (cockpit voice recorder), which persisted until the end of the recording 25 seconds later. During this time, the crew engaged in efforts to attempt to control the aircraft before the crash,” said Inman.
The authorities have confirmed that left engine caught fire and fell off during the plane’s takeoff.
Inman said they will split into multiple groups: operations group, structures group, power plants group, systems group and a maintenance group. There will also be specialists.
The NTSB said they are reviewing the more than six weeks of heavy maintenance overhaul done between September and October. Inman said UPS is providing all maintenance records for the aircraft. “We are currently downloading information,” he confirmed. He also said UPS said no maintenance was done on the day of the fight and that it was not delayed due to maintenance.
Inman said at the press conference on Friday, November 7, that video from the airport showed that the left engine detached from the aircraft shortly after takeoff. Both the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder have been recovered and are in the process of being analyzed.