LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A UPS cargo plane crashed and exploded in a massive fireball Tuesday while taking off from the company’s global aviation hub in Louisville, Kentucky, killing at least seven people and injuring 11, authorities said.

At least seven people were killed and 11 were injured when a UPS plane crashed in a massive fiery explosion shortly after taking off from Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport Tuesday evening, according to officials and wild footage.

Shocking video shows the Hawaii-bound plane appear to lift off the runway while one of its wings was on fire before it crashes down and blows up in a huge fireball. 


Emergency crews are responding to an airport crash near the airport in Louisville, Kentucky on November 4, 2025.WLKY
UPS Flight 2976, which was carrying three crew members and 50,000 gallons of jet fuel, exploded around 5:15 p.m. just 13 minutes after taking off, according to the Federal Aviation Administration and FlightAware data. The plane crashed into a petroleum recycling plant and the resulting fire was still raging hours later as emergency personnel swarmed the scene, officials said.


Footage captured by Leirim Rodrigues, who was in the car with her husband when they witnessed the crash, shows an inferno raging at the site, sending thick smoke plumes skyward.Leirim Rodrigues via Storyful“Right now we believe that we have at least three fatalities and I believe that number is going to get larger,” Beashear told reporters. “We have at least 11 injuries, some of them very significant that are being treated at local hospitals, and again I think that number will get larger.”

Louisville Fire Chief Brian O’Neill said that emergency responders are still sifting through the “hazard zone” for additional victims or people trapped in the wreckage.

The Louisville Metro Police Department issued a shelter-in-place order within the hour “for all locations within 5 miles of the airport,” as aerial footage showed a trail of fire and destruction behind the wrecked aircraft with a towering plume of smoke rising above.


It’s unclear at the moment the exact extent of injuries or how many passengers were on board the aircraft.WLKY
The department later extended the order to all areas north of the airport to the Ohio River. Anyone in the immediate radius was also ordered to turn off air intake systems at their homes or businesses.

Some of the smoke had started to waft towards southern Indiana, and Beshear said they’ve alerted local officials there.


Fire and smoke mark where a UPS cargo plane crashed near Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport on November 04, 2025 in Louisville, Kentucky.Getty Images

The plane hit Kentucky Petroleum Recycling “pretty directly,” the governor said. Another nearby business, Grade A Autoparts, was also close to the crash, and Beshear said that the company has been in touch with all but two of its employees.

Beshear added that Grade A couldn’t estimate how many employees and customers were on site when the plane crashed.

Councilwoman Betsy Ruhe, who represents the district where the airport is located, said that Louisville is truly a “UPS town.”

“My cousin’s a UPS pilot. My aide’s tennis partner is a UPS pilot. The intern in my office works overnight at UPS to pay for college. We all know somebody who works at UPS and they’re texting their friends, their family, trying to make sure everybody’s safe. Sadly, some of those texts are probably going to go unanswered. My heart goes out to those families and those friends,” she said at the press conference.


UPS confirmed that the plane involved in the crash was one of theirs.Björn Wylezich – stock.adobe.com
The airport was completely shuttered following the crash and the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.

“UPS Flight 2976 crashed around 5:15 p.m. local time on Tuesday, Nov. 4, after departing from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Kentucky,” the FAA said in a statement to The Post. “The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 was headed to Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu. The FAA and NTSB will investigate. The NTSB will lead the investigation and will provide all updates.”

The MD-11 has limited seats when used for cargo transport and can carry up to 187,393 pounds, according to Boeing, which took over manufacturing the aircraft after it merged with McDonnell Douglas in 1997.


Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear confirmed that seven people are presumed dead and 11 people were injured and warned that the numbers were expected to grow in a statement to X Tuesday night.

Four people on the ground were killed and the three people who were onboard the flight are presumed dead, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said at a press briefing after 10 p.m.