Death toll rises to 9 in UPS plane crash in Louisville

First responders are searching for more victims Wednesday after a UPS cargo plane crashed and exploded in a massive fireball at the company’s global aviation hub in Louisville, killing at least nine people and injuring 11.

The  McDonnell Douglas MD-11, made in 1991, crashed about 5:15 p.m. as it was departing for Honolulu from Louisville's Muhammad Ali International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration reported.

Video showed flames on the plane's left wing and a trail of smoke. The plane then lifted slightly off the ground before crashing and exploding in a huge fireball. Video also revealed portions of a building’s shredded roof next to the end of the runway.

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg confirmed that the aircraft was carrying 280,000 gallons of fuel, and that the fire continues to burn. 

A nearby business, Kentucky Petroleum Recycling, appeared to be “hit pretty directly,” which may have contributed to the size of the fireball. A nearby auto parts operation was also affected. He said the crash narrowly missed a restaurant bar, a Ford plant, and the city’s convention center that was hosting a livestock show.

Over 200 emergency workers responded to the crash Tuesday night.

UPS’s largest package handling facility is in Louisville. Their Worldhub center employs twenty thousand workers, has 300 daily flights and sorts more than 400,000 packages an hour. Their complement of aircraft includes 27 of the MD-11s, along with five other types of planes..

“This will be an ongoing active scene for the next several days. We don’t know how long it’s going to take to render that scene safe,” said Louisville Police Chief Paul Humphrey.

The airport was shut down and wasn’t expected to resume operations until Wednesday morning.

A shelter-in-place order was issued Tuesday for a one-mile radius of the airport, with a warning not to breathe smoke or handle debris from the crash. By Wednesday morning, that was reduced to a quarter-mile radius, as officials monitored the air quality.

All Jefferson County public schools were also closed Wednesday.