At least seven people were killed and 11 were wounded on Tuesday after a United Parcel Service plane crashed near Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport.
UPS confirmed that the aircraft belonged to the company, identifying it as UPS Flight 2976 from Louisville, Kentucky, to Honolulu, and that it had crashed shortly after takeoff at 5:15 p.m., setting several structures on fire. The plane was an MD-11 with three crewmembers onboard.
Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY) said that of the 11 injured, some had “very significant injuries,” and warned that the death toll is likely to rise.
“Anybody who has seen the images, the video, knows how violent this crash is,” Beshear said.
Louisville Metro Police Department officials said the crash resulted in “fire and debris” being scattered across the affected area. A shelter-in-place order was issued for everyone within a 5-mile radius of the airport. Over 200 first responders were on the ground Tuesday night to assist with the effort.
“LMPD and multiple other agencies are responding to reports of a [plane] crash near Fern Valley and Grade Lane,” a statement from the LMPD reads. “Grade lane will be closed indefinitely between Stooges and Crittenden. Injuries reported.”
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said the National Transportation Safety Board will handle the investigation. The airport shut down completely on Tuesday night, but will resume operations on Wednesday morning. Those who had flights canceled on Tuesday will be prioritized when service resumes.
Videos of the crash quickly circulated online, showing the plane exploding in a massive fireball across a wide area. Though UPS did not confirm any casualties, the massive fireball suggests that all crew members were killed.
The roughly 8 1/2 hour flight to Honolulu explains the massive fireball caused by the aircraft, as it would have been loaded with tens of thousands of gallons of aviation fuel.
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The fireball largely hit an industrial zone, containing businesses such as Ford’s Louisville Assembly Plant, UPS Flight Training Center, and UPS Worldport Freight Facility, according to USA Today.
The crash marks UPS’s first fatal plane crash in over 12 years. The company has suffered two fatal plane crashes in its history previously, one near Dubai in September 2010, and another in August 2013, near Birmingham, Alabama. The plane in the 2013 crash took off from the same Louisville airport.
