UPS Airlines Flight 2976 was a scheduled domestic cargo flight in the United States from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Louisville, Kentucky, to Honolulu, Hawaii. On November 4, 2025, the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 operating the flight suffered a separation of its left engine during its takeoff roll and crashed into an industrial area seconds after liftoff from the runway, at about 5:13p.m. local time (22:13UTC). The crash killed fifteen people, which consisted of all three crew members on board the aircraft and an additional twelve people on the ground, one of whom succumbed to their injuries on December 25.
The accident is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board. Following the accident, UPS retired its remaining MD-11 fleet in January 2026.
Background
Airline
UPS Airlines is the United States' second-largest cargo airline (after FedEx Express).[2] Founded in 1988, the company had suffered only two fatal accidents before Flight 2976: UPS Airlines Flight 6 in 2010 and UPS Airlines Flight 1354 in 2013, each of which killed two people (two crewmembers on board in each case).[3][4]
The aircraft, N259UP, was a 34-year-old McDonnell Douglas MD-11F, first delivered to Thai Airways International in 1991 with the registration HS-TME,[7] after which it was converted to a cargo aircraft and delivered to UPS Airlines in 2006.[8] It had flown 21,043 cycles and for about 92,992 hours,[9] and was equipped with three General Electric CF6-80C2D1F turbofan engines.[10] The last visual inspections of the left pylon aft mount were performed in October 2021. More rigorous "Special Detailed Inspections" for the mount lugs and wing clevis were not yet due, as the aircraft's 21,043 accumulated cycles were well below the 28,000 and 29,200 cycle thresholds required for those checks. Two months before the crash, it had been grounded for six weeks to repair a cracked fuel tank, and corrosion was later found along two structural beams in the fuselage. The aircraft re-entered service a few weeks before the crash.[11]
The aircraft took off from runway 17R, heading south, at about 5:13p.m. EST (UTC−5). Weather at the time was clear,[15] with wind at 6 knots (11km/h; 7mph) from the southeast with visibility of 10 miles (16km).[7] According to initial flight tracking data, the aircraft reached an altitude of 175 feet (53m)[16] and a maximum ground speed of 186 knots (344km/h; 214mph).[10]
Stills showing the left engine separating from the wing of the aircraft, from surveillance footage obtained by the NTSB
During takeoff, shortly after rotation, the left engine, with the bulk of its pylon still attached, separated from the wing and flipped backwards over the wing's leading edge.[9] As it detached, a fire ignited on the engine, and it tumbled up and over the aircraft, coming to rest on the grass on the right side of runway 17R. A fire also broke out near the left pylon attachment point and continued to burn until impact.[9] The aircraft subsequently entered a descent.[17][18][19]
The jet's left main landing gear struck the roof of a UPS Supply Chain warehouse,[9] leaving a 300-foot (90m) gash.[15] Its left wing then hit a stand of fuel tanks at the Kentucky Petroleum Recycling company's depot,[15] causing a fire to erupt and the aircraft to roll more than 90 degrees to the left. Finally, the airplane crashed into a semi-truck parking area and an auto scrap yard, Grade A Auto Parts.[20] The debris field stretched approximately 3,000 feet (910m) south-southeast from the UPS warehouse.[9] The flight was not carrying hazardous cargo.[21]
Video analysis indicates that the tail-mounted engine also experienced a malfunction, with bursts of flame seen emitting from the exhaust. Aviation experts have suggested that debris from the detached engine may have been ingested into the tail engine, inducing a compressor stall and thus causing the engine to surge,[17] but this is yet to be confirmed by the NTSB.[22]
Multiple buildings were set on fire or destroyed, with reports of people trapped inside.[23][24]
The crash viewed from a surveillance camera
UPS 2976 moments before crashing
Victims
The crash was the deadliest in UPS Airlines history, killing 15 people: all three crew members on board the aircraft and another twelve on the ground.[3][4][25][26] The dead included a three-year-old child and her grandfather.[14] As of November 20, 23 people were known to have suffered injuries, two of which were described as "serious" and 21 as "minor".[9] However, on December 25, Mayor Greenberg announced that a man who sustained severe injuries had died, raising the death toll to 15.[26]
The accident is the second-deadliest crash involving an MD-11, behind the 1998 crash of Swissair Flight 111.[27]
Timeline of identification
Two employees of the auto yard were initially reported as unaccounted for, and it was unknown how many customers were on the premises at the time.[28] Fifteen families initially reported missing relatives. On November 6, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg reported that six of the missing had been accounted for, leaving nine still missing.[29] Two days later, Greenberg said that the missing people were believed to have been found.[30]
The day after the crash, a spokesperson reported that fifteen people had been treated at UofL Health facilities, all but two of whom had been discharged.[31][32]
Aftermath
Smoke plume viewed from the ground
All flights to and from the airport were immediately canceled.[21] Louisville-Jefferson County Emergency Management issued a shelter-in-place order centered on the airport with a radius of 5 miles (8km). This was later reduced to 1mi (1,600m). Wireless Emergency Alert messages were issued to those in the shelter-in-place area. At the last briefing of the day, Mayor Greenberg said that more than 100 firefighters were at the scene. Local police officials said families should not seek loved ones at hospitals, to avoid overwhelming them, but to visit a reunification center at the police training academy.[33][34] UPS temporarily suspended operations at its Worldport air hub.[35] The fire was nearly contained by 10:30p.m., freeing up first responders to search for victims.[36] All public schools in the Jefferson County School District were closed the day after the crash.[16]
The radius of the shelter-in-place order was reduced a second time, effective at 7:30a.m. on November 5, centered near 7501 Grade Lane, to 1⁄4mi (400m).[34] The Louisville Metro Government set up a website for people to report and document debris, which they were urged not to touch, and numerous departures were delayed or canceled.[34] At 7:40a.m., Louisville International Airport announced that Runway 11/29 was open.[37] UPS resumed operations from Louisville later that day.[38] The incident runway, 17R/35L, was reopened around 4:45p.m. EST on November6, returning the airfield to full operational status.[39]
On November 8, UPS, FedEx, and Western Global Airlines temporarily grounded their respective MD-11 fleets "out of an abundance of caution" following instructions from their manufacturer, Boeing (inherited from McDonnell Douglas).[40] UPS operates 26 MD-11s, a small fraction of its fleet of over 500 aircraft, while FedEx has 28 MD-11s in a fleet of more than 700.[11][41][42] The FAA issued an emergency airworthiness directive (EAD) for MD-11 aircraft requiring inspections and any applicable corrective actions before flight. No corrective actions have been specified so far, effectively grounding the entire MD-11 fleet indefinitely.[43][44] On November 14, the FAA issued an EAD grounding the DC-10, the MD-11's predecessor aircraft, for the same reason.[45]
The temporary grounding of the MD-11 fleet disrupted overnight cargo operations at several major U.S. airports, including Memphis, Dallas–Fort Worth, and Ontario, California, causing short-term delays in supply chains reliant on express freight. The incident occurred during the 2025 federal government shutdown, which strained staffing at aviation agencies and led regulators to impose traffic reductions and operational limits. Observers stated that these conditions complicated logistics and could slow non-urgent investigatory and regulatory work. Industry and government sources urged expedited inspections to minimize economic losses.[46][47][48]
On January 27, UPS announced the complete retirement of the MD-11 from its fleet.[49]
Lawsuits
Morgan & Morgan announced the first lawsuit filed by two plaintiffs against UPS, Boeing, and General Electric for negligence in federal court on November 7.[50] The first plaintiff is claimed to have suffered smoke inhalation; the second plaintiff is claimed to have suffered from property damage to two of his businesses.[51][52]
On December 3, 2025, Clifford Law Offices and Sam Aguiar Injury Lawyers announced lawsuits against UPS, Boeing, General Electric, and VT San Antonio Aerospace, alleging negligence by UPS.[53][54] On December 12, ST Engineering was added to the lawsuit.[55] On December 17, another lawsuit was filed against UPS on behalf of another victim.[56]
On January 23, 2026, the Clifford Law Firm and attorney Sam Aguiar also announced another lawsuit filed against the same defendants on behalf of the family of Alain Rodriguez Colina, who was injured from the crash and later died on Christmas Day. The lawsuit filed in Jefferson County seeks damages for criminal negligence.[57]
Two Texas law firms filed against ST Engineering in county court seeking over $1 million in damages on behalf of Carlos Arias Fernandez, who was among the dead on the ground from the air crash.[58]
Investigation
The charred cockpit voice recorder (left) and flight data recorder (right) pictured the day after the crash
Pieces recovered from the accident: on the left is the fitting where the engine is attached to the wing, on the right are the fractured lugs of the engine pylon
On November 6, NTSB officials announced that the last ADS-B message, received at 5:13:32p.m. EST (UTC−5), showed the aircraft had reached a maximum speed of 183 knots (339km/h; 211mph) and an altitude of 475 feet (145m) above sea level, only ten feet (3m) above ground level. They also said they had downloaded the flight's data from the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder.[62] An NTSB spokesman said the CVR audio contained a persistent bell sound.[63]
On November 20, the NTSB released their preliminary report on the accident.[64] The report stated that the cracks had been found in the left pylon resulting from metal fatigue—specifically, inspection of the pylon showed fatigue cracks on both fracture surfaces of the aft mount's aft lug and along the bore of the aft mount forward lug's inboard fracture surface.[9] However, no deformation or pre-existing fractures were found in the forward top flange of the aft mount assembly. The report also noted the crash of American Airlines Flight 191 in 1979 (involving a DC-10 with very similar engine mounts), which had crashed under similar circumstances.[9]
On January 14, 2026, the NTSB released an update stating that all engine data recorded by the FDR was normal until 17:13:11 and fatigue cracks were found in engine no. 1's spherical bearing assembly.[65]
Reactions
Kentucky U.S. Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul expressed their condolences to the victims.[66] A town hall meeting in Louisville with U.S. Senate candidate Nate Morris started with a moment of silence.[67] Representative Morgan McGarvey expressed appreciation for the bravery of the first responders at the scene.[68] State flags were flown at half-staff.[69] UPS CEO Carol Tomé expressed her sadness over the accident and thanked the UPS team in Louisville for their professionalism.[13]
Teamsters Local 89, which represents transportation and warehouse workers including UPS, held a candlelight vigil in honor of the victims of the crash at the local union hall, which began with a moment of silence at 5:14p.m., marking the time of the crash.[71]
123"UPS Statement on Aircraft Accident". Newsroom. about.ups.com. UPS. November 20, 2025 [first published November 4, 2025]. Archived from the original on November 21, 2025. Retrieved January 6, 2026.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
