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At least 7 killed, 11 hurt after UPS plane crashes and explodes at Kentucky airport
UPS cargo jet erupted into flames and exploded after crashing during takeoff Tuesday evening at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, killing at least seven people and injuring 11 others. The aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 bound for Honolulu, went down around 5:15 p.m. shortly after lifting off from UPS’s Worldport facility — the company’s main global air hub. Witness video captured flames coming from the plane’s left wing before it briefly lifted off the runway, lost control, and burst into a massive fireball that tore through a nearby industrial area. Parts of a nearby building’s roof were blown off by the blast, and fire crews worked for hours to contain the inferno.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear confirmed that some of the victims were not aboard the plane, describing the crash as “incredibly violent.” The 11 injured include several individuals with serious burns and trauma. The three-person flight crew’s condition remains unclear. Louisville police said multiple nearby businesses were damaged, including Kentucky Petroleum Recycling and an auto parts facility. The National Transportation Safety Board dispatched a 28-member team to investigate the crash, while airport operations were suspended overnight as authorities worked to secure the crash site. UPS, which halted all package sorting operations at the hub, expressed condolences to the victims’ families and said the company is cooperating fully with investigators. The Louisville facility, which employs thousands and processes more than 400,000 packages per hour, serves as the heart of UPS’s global network.
Residents across the city described the explosion as resembling a “war zone.” Video footage from witnesses showed a series of fiery blasts followed by towering plumes of thick black smoke. Some nearby workers fled moments before the explosion, while others waited anxiously at a local police station for word about missing loved ones. Locals said the impact could be felt miles away, shaking nearby businesses and homes. Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg called it “one of the darkest days our city has seen in years,” vowing full transparency in the ongoing investigation into what caused the catastrophic crash.
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