At least seven people were killed and 11 were injured when a UPS plane crashed in a colossal fiery explosion — leaving a long trail of flames and destruction — shortly after taking off from Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport Tuesday evening, according to officials and wild footage.
Four people on the ground were killed and the three people who were onboard the flight are presumed dead, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said. The numbers were expected to grow as emergency crews combed the far-reaching scene for additional victims through the night, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear warned.
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.
Several shocking videos captured the Hawaii-bound plane appear to lift off the runway while one of its wings was on fire before it flips on its side, crashes down and blows up in a massive fireball. Aerial footage of the aftermath showed a long path of flames behind the wrecked aircraft with a towering plume of smoke rising above.
The aircraft, bound for Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, crashed into a petroleum recycling plant roughly three miles south of the airfield and the resulting fire was still raging hours later as over 100 firefighters and emergency personnel swarmed the scene, officials said.
Louisville Fire Chief Brian O’Neill said that emergency responders were still sifting through the “hazard zone” for additional victims or people trapped in the wreckage after finally containing the mammoth inferno late Tuesday night.
“We have watched this terrible video, we have watched these horrible incidents, just remember, please, those are real people that that impacted, let’s take a moment to think about them and their families and their loved ones,” O’Neill said at a press briefing.
Immediately following the crash, the Louisville Metro Police Department had issued a shelter-in-place order “for all locations within 5 miles of the airport.” The department later extended the order to all areas north of the airport to the Ohio River before it was pulled back to a 1-mile radius around 10 p.m. Locals in the immediate radius were 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.
The plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11, 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.
The Louisville mayor asked residents and business owners to report any debris from the crash that may have fallen onto their properties.
“Having a tragedy like this in your backyard impacts all of us greatly,” Greenberg said. “I know the feeling that I first got when I saw the plume of smoke, and when I’d heard what had happened, and how my heart dropped. I know that everyone in Louisville had that same exact feeling. Tonight, we simply ask for prayers and support for those who have been directly impacted by it and their families.”
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.
The Louisville airport was shuttered for the rest of the night with plans to reopen Wednesday morning, Greenberg said. He advised travelers to double-check with their airlines before heading to the airport and to expect delays.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating, with the latter spearheading the probe. Nearly 30 officials with the NTSB will arrive in Louisville Wednesday and are expected to deliver the next update sometime in the morning.
