UPS Plane Crash: Death toll climbs to 9, Louisville airport reopens
Video circulating on social media showed a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 struggling to get airborne, with one of its engines on fire, before exploding in a fireball.
The death toll from a crash of a United Parcel Service Inc. cargo plane rose to nine as investigators began looking into what caused the fiery accident near the company’s global hub in Kentucky.
The Federal Aviation Administration said on X that Louisville airport had reopened, although multiple taxiways remained closed.
Governor Andy Beshear said Wednesday in a post on X that there may be more victims from Tuesday’s crash.
Video circulating on social media showed the Honolulu-bound McDonnell Douglas MD-11 struggling to get airborne, with one of its engines on fire, before exploding in a fireball beyond the end of the runway. Another clip posted by local news station WLKY showed a large area of the ground on fire in the aftermath of the crash. Plumes of smoke were visible for miles.
The crash comes at a time of widespread air travel disruptions across America caused by air traffic controller shortages since the US government shutdown began Oct. 1.
The FAA and the NTSB will investigate, with the latter air accident body leading the probe, the FAA said. The NTSB said its investigative team will arrive Wednesday.
UPS asked hub and ramp workers at the hub — known as Worldport — not to report to work on Wednesday. The company halted package sorting operations Tuesday evening at the facility.
Boeing Co., which took over McDonnell Douglas in 1997, said it stands ready to support its customer and has offered technical assistance to the National Transportation Safety Board. The company said it will “work tirelessly” with state and local authorities on response efforts.
In a statement on X, UPS said it’s working with the NTSB and staying in close contact with the FAA.
The cause of the crash hasn’t been identified. Typically such incidents are triggered by one or more operational, mechanical and environmental factors, established by investigators over weeks and months.
Flight tracking website Flightradar24 showed the 34-year-old aircraft, designated as UPS Flight 2976, reaching takeoff speeds and climbing to around 175 feet (53 meters) before plummeting to the ground.
“Anybody who has seen the images and the video know how violent this crash is,” Beshear told reporters at a briefing on Tuesday. He added there was no word yet on the status of the three crew members onboard the jet.
Several explosions, a lingering fire and potentially flammable debris at Louisville’s Muhammad Ali airport complicated the efforts of emergency crews looking for victims and securing the area, authorities told reporters.
The incident adds to a deadly year for global aviation. Just three weeks ago, a cargo plane skidded off the runway and into the sea at Hong Kong International Airport, killing two ground crew. In June, 241 people died on an Air India flight that crashed just after takeoff, and in January a US Army helicopter collided with an American Airlines Group Inc. regional jet on approach to Ronald Reagan Airport in Washington.
The three-engine widebody jet, a stretched version of the DC-10, was launched in 1986 but was eclipsed by more efficient twin-engine models like Boeing’s 777.
UPS and rival FedEx Corp. are among the last remaining operators of the MD-11. UPS has 26 of the type in service, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium, while FedEx currently has 28 in service.
The aircraft involved in the accident was originally built for Thai Airways International in the early 1990s before being converted into a freighter about 20 years ago for UPS. The plane was powered by three General Electric Co. CF6 engines.
Other accidents involving UPS operations include UPS Flight 6 in September 2010, when a Boeing 747-400F crashed near Dubai after experienced an in-flight cargo fire, killing both crew members. In August 2013, an Airbus A300-600F crashed short of the runway in Birmingham, Alabama, killing the captain and first officer. Authorities cited fatigue, pilot error and subsequent aircraft instability as probable causes for that crash.
Information gathered so far from the Kentucky crash site suggests at least two businesses were hit, including a petroleum recycling company and an autoparts shop.
--With assistance from Danny Lee.
(Updates with previous crashes involving UPS aircraft)
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