NTSB hearing will probe cause of fiery UPS jet crash that killed 15 in Louisville

UPS Flight 2976 crashed shortly after takeoff near Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Louisville, Kentucky. Stephen Cohen/ hide caption toggle caption Stephen Cohen/ WASHINGTON — The nation's top safety investigators will launch a fact-finding hearing Tuesday morning into what caused the deadly crash of UPS flight 2976 in Louisville, Ky. last November . The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 cargo plane got only 30 feet off the ground before crashing shortly after takeoff from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board. The NTSB released dramatic photos of the left engine flying up and over the wing as the plane rolled down the runway, moments before it crashed and exploded in a massive fireball. The cargo plane was bound for Honolulu with a full load of jet fuel. Fifteen people were killed , including all three pilots on the plane. The agenda for the two-day hearing at NTSB headquarters will include testimony from witnesses from UPS, the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing. (The MD-11 was built by McDonnell Douglas, which was later bought by Boeing.) Investigators at the NTSB have not said what they think caused the crash, but they released an investigative update in January focusing additional attention on the mounting system that attaches the engine to the wing of the MD-11. …