Fire and smoke mark where a UPS cargo plane crashed near Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport on Nov. 4, 2025 in Louisville, Kentucky.
Stephen Cohen | Getty Images
A UPS plane crashed shortly after takeoff on Tuesday around 5:15 p.m. local time after departing from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Kentucky, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
UPS said in a statement that there were three crewmembers on the plane. “At this time, we have not confirmed any injuries/casualties,” the company said.
The Louisville Metro Police Department said on X that it was implementing a shelter-in-place order near the crash site and that injuries had been reported, but it was unclear if the injuries were from the crew or on the ground.
The reason for the crash was not immediately known. The plane was a MD-11F, a type of freight transport aircraft made by aircraft manufacturer McDonnell Douglas, which merged with Boeing in 1997.
A plume of smoke wafts over airport property after reports of a plane crash at Louisville International Airport, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, in Louisville, Ky.
Jon Cherry | AP
A large plume of black smoke was visible near the airport, and footage from local TV showed fire and debris in a large radius around the crash site.
The FAA said the plane was en route to Honolulu and that it and the National Transportation Safety Board would investigate the incident.
The airport was closed following the incident, and “all arriving and departing flights at SDF are temporarily suspended,” the airport said in a statement on X.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said “the situation is serious” on X and that he was headed to Louisville.
The airport is home to the UPS Worldport, which the company says is its largest package handling facility in the world. Hundreds of UPS flights take off daily from Louisville, according to the company.
— CNBC’s Dennis Green contributed to this report.
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