Politics
BREAKING: UPS Plane Crashes Shortly After Takeoff In Louisville
A UPS cargo plane with three crew members crashed shortly after taking off from the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Kentucky on Tuesday, the parcel service and local officials confirmed.
The Louisville Metropolitan Police Department confirmed Tuesday evening that several law enforcement agencies were responding to reports of a plane crash near Fern Valley and Grade Lane. LMPD further confirmed that casualties have been confirmed.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear described the situation as “serious” after the crash sparked a large fire and large plumes of smoke just outside thew airport.
Footage from the scene appears to show one of the plane’s engines engulfed in flames as it taxied along the runway, leaving a large plume of smoke trailing the aircraft. It then crashed just off the runway in a wooded area with some buildings nearby.
Another angle shows a massive fireball erupting just behind a small industrial center.
UPS flight UPS2976 crashes shortly after taking off from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport.
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) November 4, 2025
The flight has been identified as UPS Flight 2976 bound for Honolulu, Hawaii. It was loaded with 280,000 pounds of jet fuel onboard at the time of the crash, leading to multiple explosions and a large smoke cloud that could be seen for miles, according to local outlet WLKY.
“We have every emergency agency responding to the scene. There are multiple injuries and the fire is still burning. There are many road closures in the area – please avoid the scene,” Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg announced in a social media post. The mayor added that a joint press conference with Governor Beshear will be held shortly.
The Louisville Metro Police Department originally issued a shelter-in-place order for all locations within five miles of the airport. The order has since been expanded to all areas north of the airport to the Ohio River.
The Louisville airport is the worldwide air hub for UPS, measuring more than five million square feet and processing about two million packages per day, Axios noted.
An investigation into the crash will be headed up by the National Transportation Safety Board with assistance from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
This is a developing story.
