LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A UPS cargo plane carrying three crew members crashed Tuesday while attempting to take off from Louisville, Kentucky, resulting in a fiery explosion and a towering column of black smoke visible across the area.
The incident occurred at approximately 5:15 p.m. as the aircraft was departing for Honolulu from Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The Louisville Metro Police Department confirmed on social media that there were reports of injuries.
Mayor Craig Greenberg expressed urgent concerns regarding the situation, telling WLKY-TV, “The plane was carrying roughly 280,000 gallons of fuel, which poses significant dangers in numerous ways.”
Louisville is home to UPS’s largest package handling facility, where thousands of employees work to manage 300 daily flights and the sorting of over 400,000 packages every hour.
The crashed aircraft was a McDonnell Douglas MD-11, which has been in service since it was manufactured in 1991.
A shelter-in-place order was extended to all areas north of the airport to the Ohio River.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in a post on X that information would be shared as it was available.
“Please pray for the pilots, crew and everyone affected,” Beshear said.
