At least seven people are confirmed dead and several others injured after a UPS plane crashed shortly after takeoff near the Louisville International Airport on Tuesday, officials said.
The number of fatalities is expected to increase, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said on social media Tuesday night.
UPS Flight 2976 crashed around 5:15 p.m. local time after it departed from the Louisville airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The aircraft was headed to Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, Hawaii, when it went down three miles south of the airfield, Louisville airport public safety officer Jonathan Biven said at a news conference.
Beshear said there was not hazardous cargo onboard the plane that would create environmental issues around the crash site, but urged residents to follow any shelter-in-place orders.
The Louisville Metro Police Department described the scene as active with “fire and debris,” warning residents to stay away from Fern Valley and Grade Lane, an intersection located on the south side of the airport, which serves as the hub of UPS.
Videos of the crash showed the aircraft partially on fire as it sped down the runway before it burst into flames.
A shelter-in-place has been reduced to a 1-mile radius of the crash site, authorities said. The police department also urged those in the area to turn off any air intake systems as soon as possible due to the smoke in the area.
“Anybody who has seen the images and the video knows how violent this crash is, and there are a lot of families that are gonna be waiting and wondering for a period of time. We’re going to try to get them that information as fast as we can,” Beshear said.
UPS said in a statement that it was notified of an incident involving one of its aircraft. Three UPS crewmembers were on board, the company said. It didn’t immediately provide more details.
“We do not at the moment have the status of the crew,” Beshear said. “Watching that video, I think we’re all very very worried about them.”
Businesses in the area were heavily impacted by the crash, including Kentucky Petroleum Recycling and Grade A Auto Parts, the governor said. At least two employees of Grade A Auto Parts are unaccounted for, and it’s not clear how many people, including customers, were on site at the time of the incident.
As first responders and emergency crews work to control the massive fire, all arriving and departing flights at the Louisville airport are temporarily suspended, and the airport is closed until at least 7 a.m. Wednesday, the airport said.
According to preliminary flight data from FlightRadar24, the plane appeared to hit 175 feet in altitude briefly after takeoff. It would have been full of fuel for the flight to Hawaii, which likely led to the significant fire as seen from CBS affiliate WLKY-TV‘s chopper.
The three-engine McDonnell Douglas MD-11 was manufactured in 1991, according to FAA data.
It was carrying approximately 38,000 gallons of fuel, which weighs about 233,000 pounds, Louisville Fire Chief Brian O’Neill said. The area affected by the crash is about a city block wide, he said, but it has been difficult to contain the fire due to surrounding hazardous materials.
The crash is where UPS Worldport, an international air hub for the parcel service, is located.
“This is a UPS town,” Louisville Metro Councilwoman Betsy Ruhe, whose district is part of the crash site, said during the news conference Tuesday night. “We all know somebody who works at UPS, and they’re all texting their friends, their family, trying to make sure everyone is safe. Sadly, some of those texts are probably going to go unanswered.”
The 5.2 million-square-foot facility processes more than 400,000 packages an hour and is home to 20,000 UPS workers and 300 daily flights, according to the company.
“My team and I are closely monitoring the plane crash near Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport,” Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said. “We continue to pray for the safety of the aircrew, everyone in the area, and for the first-responders on the scene.”
The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation into the crash.
Kris Van Cleave contributed to this report.
