A deadly UPS cargo plane crash in Louisville, Kentucky, has now claimed at least 11 lives, including a child, as investigators confirm that one of the aircraft’s engines detached mid-takeoff before the massive explosion that engulfed the area.
Federal officials said Wednesday that the McDonnell Douglas MD-11’s left wing caught fire just before its left engine separated and fell to the runway at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. The aircraft, bound for Honolulu, lifted briefly off the ground before crashing near the end of the runway around 5:15 p.m. Tuesday.
Todd Inman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said investigators have recovered both the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder. The engine was later found on the airfield, confirming early reports from airport surveillance footage showing it detaching during takeoff. “There are a lot of different parts of this airplane in a lot of different places,” Inman said, describing a debris field stretching nearly half a mile.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said the toll is expected to grow as search teams continue to comb through wreckage spread across multiple properties near the UPS Worldport, the global air hub for the company. “Finding survivors seems unlikely,” Beshear said, calling the crash “one of the most devastating aviation disasters Kentucky has ever seen.”
The inferno consumed the cargo plane and spread to nearby businesses, including Kentucky Petroleum Recycling and Grade A Auto Parts, where the governor said a child who died was with a parent. Smaller explosions continued for hours as crews battled the flames, forcing authorities to issue a shelter-in-place order for neighborhoods north of the airport to the Ohio River.
Fire Chief Mark Little of the Okolona Fire District said recovery efforts are ongoing and expected to take several days. “It will take us quite a while,” he said. “There’s still debris we have to move and search.”
Hospitals in Louisville reported treating at least 18 people, with two in critical condition in the University of Louisville burn unit.
UPS confirmed that the aircraft, built in 1991, was part of its long-haul international fleet and said it is working closely with federal investigators. “We are terribly saddened,” the company said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with the families of those affected and our colleagues at Worldport.”
Louisville Metro Council member Betsy Ruhe emphasized the emotional toll the tragedy has taken on the community. “We all know somebody who works at UPS,” she said. “This hits home for everyone in Louisville.”
Experts say the crash bears striking similarities to the 1979 American Airlines disaster at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, in which a DC-10 lost its left engine during takeoff, killing 273 people. Both aircraft models used General Electric engines.
As the NTSB continues to investigate, officials say determining the exact cause could take months. “It could have been an engine separation that ripped out fuel lines or a fire that burned through the mounting,” said former crash investigator Jeff Guzzetti. “It’s too soon to tell.”
Gov. Beshear said Kentucky’s Team Emergency Relief Fund is accepting donations to help victims’ families with funeral and recovery costs. “In Kentucky, we grieve together and we support one another,” he said.
