The MD-11, operated by the parcel carrier UPS with three crew members onboard, went down around 5:15 p.m. on November 4 while taking off from Louisville, Kentucky, en route to Honolulu, Hawaii. The aircraft had been fully fueled for the 8.5-hour flight, leading to a large explosion and fire near the airport following the crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has dispatched an investigation team to the scene. NTSB member Todd Inman said investigators reviewed airport surveillance footage and “saw the left engine detach from the wing as the plane began its takeoff roll.”
“The left engine remained at the airport,” Inman stated. According to the NTSB, the aircraft was manufactured in 1991 and equipped with three engines. Officials have recovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, which will be sent to Washington, D.C. for analysis.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear called the crash a “heartbreaking and unimaginable tragedy.” All three crew members and eight people on the ground were killed.
“The death toll stands at 11 and could rise to 12 by the end of November 5,” Beshear added, noting that rescue teams were still searching for several missing individuals. The incident marks the deadliest accident in UPS’s history and ends a 16-year streak without a fatal U.S. commercial air disaster.
The MD-11, designed and built by McDonnell Douglas (later acquired by Boeing), was once a popular wide-body passenger jet when introduced in 1990 but was later converted primarily for cargo operations due to rising fuel costs.
According to Boeing, the MD-11 has a maximum takeoff weight of 286 tons, including over 117 tons of fuel.