The investigation into the tragic crash of UPS Airlines Flight 2976 on Tuesday evening is focusing on the fiery history of the CF6 turbofan engine equipped on the ill-fated freighter jet. The McDonnell Douglas MD-11F that went down just after takeoff from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF) was powered by three of the General Electric jet engines.

The National Transportation Safety Bureau (NTSB) investigation revealed that four other aircraft have experienced uncontained failures with the GE CF6 turbine just at O’Hare International Airport (ORD), according to NBC 5 Chicago News. Today, the CF6 is the most popular turbofan engine for commercial aircraft. Almost 70% of the worldwide freighter jet fleet uses some variant of the CF6 lineup.

The CF6 Engine Safet

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