New surveillance footage released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) shows the precise moment UPS Airlines Flight 2976 lost its left engine and pylon during takeoff from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, offering investigators their clearest visual evidence yet of the catastrophic November 2025 crash that killed 15 people, New York Post reported.
The newly released CCTV video captures the cargo aircraft accelerating down the runway before lifting off.
Seconds later, the left engine and its pylon — the structure attaching the engine to the wing — can be seen tearing away from the aircraft.
In the footage, the detached engine falls toward the ground as the jet continues climbing briefly, trailing debris, before losing control.
Moments later, the aircraft disappears from view and a fireball erupts, sending thick black smoke into the sky over Louisville’s industrial outskirts.
The aircraft, a 34-year-old McDonnell Douglas MD-11F freighter, had departed for Hawaii on November 4, 2025.
The crash happened moments after takeoff, scattering debris over nearly half a mile and igniting a large blaze near the airport.
All three crew members on board died, along with 12 people on the ground. More than 20 others were injured.
UPS identified the deceased crew as Captain Richard Wartenberg (57), First Officer Lee Truitt (45), and International Relief Officer Captain Dana Diamond (62).
One of the injured on the ground, Alain Rodriguez Colina, later died from his injuries on Christmas Day, raising the death toll to 15.
The footage was released as the NTSB opened a two-day hearing in Washington this week to examine why the aircraft lost an engine shortly after departure, a CNN report said.
The hearing comes months after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded all MD-11 aircraft following the accident. The FAA has since cleared the type to return to service.
Investigators say the aircraft was originally not scheduled for the flight. According to NTSB documents, the crew had been assigned another plane, but that aircraft was replaced after a fuel leak was discovered during routine pre-flight checks.
The MD-11 that ultimately crashed was assigned as a substitute, the report added, citing probe details.
The board has already identified the mechanical failure that triggered the disaster. Preliminary findings show that two structural fittings securing the left engine to the wing failed.
The engine mount includes a spherical bearing race held within structural brackets called lugs. Investigators said the bearing race developed fatigue cracks over time and split apart, shifting abnormal stress onto the lugs, which fractured and caused the engine to separate.
During Tuesday’s hearing, investigators displayed an animation reconstructing the failure sequence and questioned whether the defect should have been detected earlier.
Records show Boeing had previously received nine reports involving bearing race issues but concluded they did not present a safety concern. The FAA did not mandate additional inspections.
The NTSB will continue questioning representatives from UPS, Boeing, the pilots’ union and the FAA as it works to determine whether maintenance practices, prior warning signs and certification oversight contributed to one of the deadliest US cargo aviation accidents in recent years.
