A UPS cargo plane crashed and erupted into a massive fireball while taking off from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport on Tuesday evening, killing at least nine people and injuring 11 more, authorities said.
The three-engine McDonnell Douglas MD-11 was departing UPS Worldport for Honolulu around 5:15 p.m. when flames appeared on its left wing, according to video footage. The aircraft briefly lifted off the runway before crashing and exploding. The blast tore apart a nearby building’s roof and sent fireballs and thick black smoke into the sky.
By Wednesday morning, officials confirmed that four of the nine people killed were on the ground, not on the plane. Gov. Andy Beshear warned that the death toll could continue to rise, adding that some survivors suffered “very significant” injuries.
“Anybody who has seen the images knows how violent this crash was,” Beshear said.
Authorities have not released the conditions of the plane’s three crew members.
UPS halted all package sorting at Worldport—its largest global hub—after the crash. The facility handles nearly 300 flights a day and processes more than 400,000 packages per hour.
“We all know someone who works at UPS,” said Louisville Metro Council member Betsy Ruhe. “People are desperately texting loved ones to make sure they’re safe. Sadly, some of those messages may never be answered.”
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation and is sending a team of 28 to Louisville. Officials shut down the airport Tuesday night and said operations would not resume until the scene was deemed safe.
Louisville Police Chief Paul Humphrey said investigators did not yet know how long that would take.
Aviation attorney Pablo Rojas said video suggested the aircraft was unable to gain altitude while fire burned near one of its engines. With a heavy fuel load for a trans-Pacific flight, he said, even a small fire could quickly lead to catastrophic failure.
“The plane is almost acting like a bomb because of the amount of fuel,” Rojas explained.
The crash struck several nearby businesses, including Kentucky Petroleum Recycling and an auto parts operation.
Families rushed to a nearby police training academy Tuesday night seeking information about missing loved ones. Eric Richardson said his girlfriend had been working at a metal recycling business near the crash and had stopped answering her phone. Her phone’s location still showed she was at the site.
Residents across Louisville felt or heard the explosion. One witness said the force “rocked the whole place” and looked “like a war zone.” Another described customers leaving a restaurant in fear after hearing the blast 15 minutes away.
Louisville’s airport sits just minutes from downtown, surrounded by residential neighborhoods, museums and local businesses.
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