*

MD-11 freighter was on the ground for repairs in Texas in

weeks

before crash

*

FAA records show plane had a crack on a structural piece

inside

the center wing fuel tank

*

At least 12 people have died in crash, including three UPS

pilots

By Allison Lampert

Nov 6 (Reuters) - U.S. safety investigators said on

Thursday they are probing the maintenance history of a UPS

cargo plane that was in Texas for repairs weeks before

crashing in flames in Louisville, Kentucky, on Tuesday, killing

at least 12 people.

The National Transportation Safety Board has said a large

"plume of fire" erupted around the 34-year-old MD-11 freighter's

left wing and one of its three engines detached from that wing

as it rolled down a Louisville airport runway.

Flight tracking data show the plane was on the ground in San

Antonio, Texas, from September 3 to October 18.

"We are aware that this aircraft was there in San Antonio,"

NTSB member Todd Inman told reporters on Thursday, without

giving a specific time frame. "We will look at every piece of

maintenance that was done, even from the San Antonio time, all

the way to the date of the flight."

Singapore-based ST Engineering, which said it

provides airframe maintenance for UPS's MD-11 aircraft and

operates a repair facility in San Antonio, declined to comment

but said it would cooperate fully when relevant authorities

reached out to it.

According to Federal Aviation Administration records dated

September 18, a crack on a structural piece inside the center

wing fuel tank required repairs.

UPS referred queries to the NTSB, as is standard in

air crash investigations.

The cargo giant on Thursday named the pilots operating the

flight as Captain Richard Wartenberg, First Officer Lee Truitt,

and International Relief Officer Captain Dana Diamond. All three

died in the crash.

There is currently no evidence that poor maintenance caused

the crash of the freighter bound for Honolulu, which also killed

at least nine people on the ground after the burning plane

struck a number of structures just beyond airport property.

Air crashes are normally caused by multiple factors, with a

preliminary report generally expected 30 days after the

incident.

The NTSB said the download of the plane's two "black boxes",

the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, was

successful and a transcript of the cockpit conversation was

being put together.

Inman said the NTSB had no immediate safety concerns about

the broader MD-11 program owned by Boeing ( BA ) since its 1997

merger with McDonnell Douglas. For cargo operations, there are

about 50 MD-11 planes being operated by FedEx ( FDX ) and UPS

worldwide.

Earlier in the day, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg

told reporters that investigators and others were still

searching through the crash debris for clues and possible

victims. In addition to the dead, nine people are reported

missing.

"There is so much charred, mangled metal that not all of the

bodies may have been located," Greenberg said.