Fatal UPS Cargo Plane Crash in Kentucky: Engine Detachment and Fire Lead to 12 Deaths

The massive aircraft was consumed by the inferno which spread to nearby businesses.

Louisville, Kentucky:

A federal official revealed Wednesday that a UPS cargo plane's left wing caught fire and an engine detached just before it crashed and exploded after takeoff in Kentucky, providing the first investigative details about the disaster that claimed at least 12 lives, including a child.

Governor Andy Beshear stated that finding survivors seemed unlikely as first responders searched the charred area of the crash at UPS Worldport, the company's global aviation hub in Louisville. The massive fire engulfed the enormous aircraft and spread to nearby businesses.

Todd Inman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation, said that after being cleared for takeoff, a large fire developed in the left wing. The NTSB will now investigate what caused the fire and why the engine separated. Determining the answers to these questions will likely take investigators more than a year.

Inman told reporters the plane gained sufficient altitude to clear the fence at the runway's end before crashing just outside Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport.

He said airport security video "shows the left engine detaching from the wing during the takeoff roll."

Inman noted that the cockpit voice recorder and data recorder were recovered, and the engine was found on the airfield.

"There are a lot of different parts of this airplane in a lot of different places," he said, describing a debris field extending for half a mile.

The plane, carrying three crew members, crashed around 5:15 p.m. Tuesday as it was departing for Honolulu from UPS Worldport at the Louisville airport.

The crash had devastating ripple effects, striking Kentucky Petroleum Recycling and causing smaller explosions, as well as hitting an auto salvage yard, Grade A Auto Parts. Beshear confirmed that the child who died was with a parent at the parts business.

Beshear earlier stated it was a "blessing" that the plane did not hit a nearby Ford Motor factory or the convention center.

People who heard the boom, saw the smoke, and smelled burning fuel remained stunned a day later.

"I didn't know if we were getting attacked. I didn't know what was going on," said Summer Dickerson, who works nearby.

Stooges Bar and Grill bartender Kyla Kenady recalled lights suddenly flickering as she delivered a beer to a patio customer.

"I saw a plane in the sky coming down over top of our volleyball courts in flames," she said. "In that moment, I panicked. I turned around, ran through the bar screaming, telling everyone that a plane was crashing."

Manager Lynn Cason said explosions, approximately 100 yards (90 meters) away, shook the building three times — "like somebody was bombing us" — but no one there was injured.

"God was definitely with us," Cason said.

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg announced on X Wednesday evening that the death toll had risen to 12, saying, "Please take a moment to hug your loved ones and check on your neighbors."

The governor predicted the death count would increase, saying authorities were searching for a "handful of other people" but "we do not expect to find anyone else alive."

Mark Little, chief of the Okolona Fire District in Louisville, said debris would have to be moved and searched, adding: "It will take us quite a while."

University of Louisville Hospital reported two people in critical condition in the burn unit. Eighteen people were treated and discharged at that hospital or other health care facilities.

The airport, located 7 miles (11 kilometers) from downtown Louisville, close to the Indiana state line, residential areas, a water park and museums, resumed operations on Wednesday with at least one runway open.

Beshear said he did not know the status of the three UPS crew members aboard the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 manufactured in 1991. It remained unclear if they were counted among the deceased.

UPS expressed being "terribly saddened." The Louisville package handling facility is the company's largest, employing over 20,000 people in the region, handling 300 flights daily and sorting more than 400,000 packages hourly.

Jeff Guzzetti, a former federal crash investigator, suggested multiple possible causes for the fire as the UPS plane rolled down the runway.

"It could have been the engine partially coming off and ripping out fuel lines. Or it could have been a fuel leak igniting and then burning the engine off. It's just too soon to tell," Guzzetti said.

He noted the crash bears numerous similarities to a 1979 incident when the left engine fell off an American Airlines jet departing Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, killing 273 people.

Guzzetti pointed out that both this UPS plane and the American plane were equipped with the same General Electric engines and both underwent heavy maintenance in the month before crashing. The NTSB blamed the Chicago crash on improper maintenance. The 1979 crash involved a DC-10, while the MD-11 UPS plane is based on the DC-10 design.

Flight records show the UPS plane was grounded in San Antonio from September 3 to October 18, but it remains unclear what maintenance was performed and whether it had any impact on the crash.