At least seven people were кιℓℓed and 11 were injured when a UPS plane crɑshed in a massive fiery explosion shortly after taking off from Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport Tuesday evening, according to officials and wild footage.
Shocking video shows the Hawaii-bound plane appear to lift off the runway while one of its wings was on fire before it crɑshes down and blows up in a huge fireball.
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. The plane crɑshed into a petroleum recycling plant and the resulting fire was still raging hours later as emergency personnel swarmed the scene, officials said.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear confirmed that seven people are presumed ɗeaɗ and 11 people were injured and warned that the numbers were expected to grow in a statement to X Tuesday night.
Four people on the ground were кιℓℓed and the three people who were onboard the flight are presumed ɗeaɗ, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said at a press briefing after 10 p.m.
“Right now we believe that we have at least three fatalities and I believe that number is going to get larger,” Beashear told reporters. “We have at least 11 injuries, some of them very significant that are being treated at local hospitals, and again I think that number will get larger.”
Louisville Fire Chief Brian O’Neill said that emergency responders are still sifting through the “hazard zone” for additional victims or people trapped in the wreckage.
The Louisville Metro Police Department issued a shelter-in-place order within the hour “for all locations within 5 miles of the airport,” as aerial footage showed a trail of fire and destruction behind the wrecked aircraft with a towering plume of smoke rising above.
The department later extended the order to all areas north of the airport to the Ohio River. Anyone in the immediate radius was 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 hit Kentucky Petroleum Recycling “pretty directly,” the governor said. Another nearby business, Grade A Autoparts, was also close to the crɑsh, 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 crɑshed.
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 somebσɗy who works at UPS and they’re texting their friends, their family, trying to make sure everybσɗy’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 airport was completely shuttered following the crɑsh and the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.
“UPS Flight 2976 crɑshed around 5:15 p.m. local time on Tuesday, Nov. 4, after departing from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Kentucky,” the FAA said in a statement to The Post. “The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 was headed to Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu. The FAA and NTSB will investigate. The NTSB will lead the investigation and will provide all updates.”
The MD-11 has limited seats when used for cargo transport and can carry up to 187,393 pounds, according to Boeing, which took over manufacturing the aircraft after it merged with McDonnell Douglas in 1997.
