12 Dead After UPS Cargo Plane Engine Detaches Mid-Takeoff in Kentucky

Investigators say a catastrophic engine failure triggered the deadliest crash in UPS history.

The city of Louisville, Kentucky, is reeling after a UPS cargo plane burst into flames and crashed shortly after takeoff on Tuesday evening, killing 12 people and leaving several others unaccounted for.

The McDonnell Douglas MD-11, bound for Hawaii, had barely left the runway at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport when disaster struck. One of its engines reportedly caught fire and detached from the wing, sending the aircraft plunging into nearby businesses in a fiery explosion just three miles from the airport.

A Routine Flight Turns to Horror

The crash occurred around 5:15 p.m., a time when the skies above Louisville are typically busy with UPS flights leaving the company’s massive Worldport hub, the beating heart of its global logistics operation.

According to NTSB investigator Todd Inman, surveillance footage confirmed that the left engine detached moments before takeoff. While the engine remained on the airfield, the rest of the plane veered off course, tearing through a row of commercial buildings and igniting nearly 38,000 gallons of jet fuel.

Firefighters spent hours battling the blaze, which left a half-mile trail of burning debris and thick plumes of black smoke visible across the city.

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg called it a “heartbreaking and unimaginable tragedy,” adding that some victims were on the ground when the plane hit.

Narrowly Avoided an Even Bigger Disaster

Officials said the crash site was alarmingly close to a Ford vehicle assembly plant employing over 3,000 people. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said it “could have been significantly worse” had the jet struck the factory directly.

Aerial footage shared by local station WLKY showed mangled metal, charred structures, and emergency responders working through the night. By early Wednesday, one runway had reopened, but UPS halted operations at its Louisville facility out of respect for those lost.

“This is the darkest day in our company’s history,” one UPS staff member told local media. “Many of us knew the crew personally, they were part of our family.”

Investigators Zero In on Mechanical Failure

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has launched a full investigation, with both the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder the aircraft’s “black boxes” recovered and en route to Washington for analysis.

Preliminary findings suggest that the engine detachment may have been caused by a fire during takeoff, a rare but devastating mechanical failure.

The aircraft, built in 1991 and later converted for cargo use, is one of the older MD-11 models still flying. Aviation analysts say its age could play a role in determining whether the incident was an isolated failure or part of a broader maintenance issue.

Boeing, which merged with McDonnell Douglas in 1996, issued a brief statement:

“We stand ready to support our customer and have offered technical assistance to the NTSB.”

UPS and Aviation Safety Under the Microscope

UPS operates one of the world’s largest cargo fleets, with 516 aircraft serving over 200 countries. While the company’s safety record has been strong, Tuesday’s tragedy marks the deadliest accident in its history.

The crash also comes at a turbulent time for U.S. aviation. Ongoing staff shortages in air traffic control worsened by what officials call the longest government shutdown in U.S. history have raised fresh concerns about aviation oversight.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy recently warned that “mass chaos” could erupt if staffing gaps continue, including potential airspace closures. The NTSB, however, has stated there is no immediate evidence that controller shortages played a role in the Kentucky crash.

Still, the incident has reignited debate over the strain on U.S. air safety systems, already under scrutiny after January’s American Eagle and military helicopter collision that killed 67 people near Washington.

“It Could Have Been Any of Us”

Residents living near the airport say the crash has left them shaken and questioning safety measures around the busy freight hub.

“I watched it happen, a ball of fire just dropped from the sky,” said one witness. “If that plane had gone another few hundred meters, it would have hit our neighborhood.”

Social media has been flooded with tributes to the victims, many of them UPS employees. One post on X read:

“Prayers for our UPS family tonight. Louisville is hurting.”

Another wrote, “These are the people who keep our world moving, they deserve answers.”

As investigators comb through the wreckage and analyze black box data, Louisville is left grieving and waiting. UPS says it is cooperating fully with authorities while offering support to the families of those affected.

For now, the question that haunts both aviation experts and the public alike is simple: How could a routine cargo flight turn into such a devastating inferno within minutes of takeoff?

The answer, as one investigator put it, “lies somewhere in those black boxes and in how we maintain the trust that the skies above us remain safe.”

{Source: IOL}

Follow Joburg ETC on Facebook, Twitter , TikTok and Instagram

For more News in Johannesburg, visit joburgetc.com