At least 12 people were killed and others injured when a UPS MD-11 cargo plane crashed into a parking lot and industrial area near Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport on Tuesday afternoon igniting a huge fire on the ground. The aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff on a flight to Honolulu. the left engine separated from the aircraft and the plane crashed off the end of the runway. It was carrying 38,000 gallons of fuel and the resulting fire spread about a half mile. A video on X appears to show the left engine on fire as the plane took off followed by a fiery explosion. Damage on the ground will be extensive and the death toll is almost certain to climb. UPS said there were three crew members onboard. The incident occurred about 5:15 p.m. local time. Here’s the unverified video that appears to show the plane on fire as it takes off.
Louisville, KY plane crash was an outbound UPS flight to Honolulu. Looks like the left wing/engine was on fire during the takeoff roll. pic.twitter.com/DimVcO0Qv5
— Anthony Cerullo (@anthonycerullo) November 4, 2025
The video above shows the extent of the fire that spread in an industrial area just off the runway at Louisville. The fire was said to be mostly under control by about midnight local time. A grid search of the area was planned to locate any other casualties. The NTSB said it’s sending 28 people to the scene and will lead the investigation.
Horrible to watch. Hopefully, The CVR and FDR will give good information on when the first sign of trouble was and if an abort was possible. I was taught never to take a fire into the air but they may not have had a fire warning,
Had to be something catastrophic for the engine and the wing to be burning that bad already just past rotation. Hope there is enough left to try and find a cause.
They appeared to be well past V1 speed and so could not stop though they should have been able to get, and stay, airborne if that was the case. The final report should shed light on all of it.
Condolences for crew and victims on the ground.
I am so sorry that this happened and I feel for everybody involved.
The NTSB says an engine came off the airplane as it was taking off. After looking at the videos, that occurred to me as a good possibility. That would have caused fuel leakage, the wing to burn. And a DC10 did that right after takeoff at ORD in, I think ’79.