(Washington) At least eleven people died in the crash of a cargo plane whose engine separated during takeoff from Louisville airport, according to authorities.
The death toll “is now at 11, but should reach 12 by the end of the day,” said state governor Andy Beshear.
The aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 from the American carrier UPS which was due to reach Hawaii, crashed late Tuesday afternoon, destroying buildings and generating an impressive plume of thick smoke.
According to one of the investigators from the American Transportation Safety Agency (NTSB) dispatched to the scene, Todd Inman, the images from the airport’s surveillance cameras “show the left engine detaching from the wing during takeoff acceleration.”
The engine remained “on the airfield,” he told reporters, adding that the two flight recorders, commonly known as “black boxes,” had been sent to Washington for analysis.
Amateur video broadcast by local channel WLKY showed the plane’s left engine on fire as the plane skimmed to the ground while trying to take off, before exploding further away. Other images then showed a large blaze spreading over several hundred meters in an area of hangars and parking lots.
PHOTO JON CHERRY, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Smoke rises from the crash site of a UPS cargo plane at Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport on November 4, 2025.
The plane ended its journey nearly 5 km from the airport, according to police, and would have hit “quite directly” an oil recycling facility, according to the governor of Kentucky.
Three crew members were on board, according to UPS, whose airline division is based in Louisville, its main air hub in the United States.
Flight deletions
As of early September, UPS Airlines operated a fleet of approximately 500 cargo planes, including 27 MD-11s.
On Wednesday, the American courier and parcel delivery group suspended all its sorting operations in Louisville for the second day in a row.
Canceled the evening before, flights were reinstated Wednesday at Louisville’s Mohamed Ali International Airport, announced the city’s mayor, Craig Greenberg.
The accident comes at a time when the consequences of the budgetary paralysis, due to a disagreement between Republicans and Democrats in Congress, are being particularly felt in the field of air transport in the United States.
PHOTO JON CHERRY, ASSOCIATED PRESS
A plume of smoke from a UPS cargo plane crash is visible at Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport, November 4, 2025
For several weeks, there have been shortages of air traffic controllers – who have been working since 1er October without being paid – leading to delays and cancellations of flights across the country.
The government announced on Wednesday that it would ask airlines to cancel flights from Friday “to reduce pressure” on air traffic control, which is facing high absenteeism due to this “shutdown”.
The last major air accident in the United States occurred on January 29 near Washington’s Ronald Reagan Airport, when a military helicopter collided with an airliner about to land, killing a total of 67 people.
