At least seven people were killed on Tuesday evening (Nov. 4) when a UPS cargo plane crashed and burst into flames moments after takeoff from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Kentucky, officials said. The three crew members aboard the MD-11 freighter and four people on the ground died, while 11 others were injured.
The wide-body aircraft, fueled for an eight-and-a-half-hour flight to Honolulu, went down around 5:15 p.m. local time, igniting multiple fires in an industrial corridor near the airport. Several buildings, including a petroleum recycling center and an auto parts business, were engulfed in flames, producing thick black smoke visible across the city. Authorities ordered residents within a five-mile radius to shelter indoors, later reducing the zone to one mile.
All flight operations at the airport, home to UPS’s Worldport global air hub, were suspended overnight. Two runways were littered with debris from the crash. UPS warned that air and international deliveries could be disrupted, though contingency plans were in place.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said the death toll could rise, describing some survivors’ injuries as “very significant.” It was UPS’s first fatal crash since 2013, when a company aircraft went down in Birmingham, Alabama.
Investigators are examining reports that one of the UPS plane’s three engines separated before impact. Video footage appeared to show flames as the aircraft took off, followed by a massive fireball as it struck the ground. U.S. air safety expert John Cox noted that the MD-11 should have been able to fly with two engines and called the blaze “much too big for a typical engine fire.”
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The 34-year-old plane had been operating with UPS since 2006. The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation, with Boeing providing technical assistance.
Reuters contributed to this report.
