Multiple agencies responding after reported plane crash near Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport
Multiple emergency crews are on the scene after a UPS plane crash near the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport Nov. 4.
Louisville Metro Police spokesperson Matthew Sanders said injuries have been reported after the accident occurred at around 5:15 p.m.
UPS reported the plane was headed for Honolulu with three crew members on board.
A shelter-in-place order has also been issued stretching from the area around the airport northward to the Ohio River, according to a LENSAlert message issued around 6 p.m. The public is advised to avoid the area and avoid smoke, if possible.
UPS’s largest and main air hub globally, UPS Worldport, is located in Louisville and sees about 360 flights each day, The Courier Journal previously reported.
Here’s what we know so far:
7:10 p.m. Air traffic controllers working weeks without pay to ensure safety
The FAA said nearly 13,000 air traffic controllers are working without pay to “ensure the safety of more than 50,000 daily operations across the national airspace system (NAS),” according to a post on its X account Oct. 31.
“As we head into this weekend, a surge in callouts is straining staffing levels at multiple facilities, leading to widespread impacts across the NAS,” the FAA wrote. “Currently, half of our Core 30 facilities are experiencing staffing shortages, and nearly 80 percent of air traffic controllers are absent at New York–area facilities. After 31 days without pay, air traffic controllers are under immense stress and fatigue. …”
7:05 p.m. TARC services delayed
TARC public transit announced its services will be suspended tonight.
“Effective immediately, due to the shelter in place issued, all TARC service has been suspended for the remainder of the evening,” the transit authority said. “TARC3 is working with current passengers with destinations outside the shelter in place to get them to their destinations, all pickups for later this evening have been suspended.”
7 p.m. ACC field hockey championships delayed
The University of Louisville is hosting the 2025 ACC field hockey championship at Trager Stadium. The fourth quarterfinal game of the day between No. 3 seed Wake Forest and No. 6 seed Syracuse was supposed to start at 6 p.m. but is delayed due to the airport emergency. An ACC spokesperson told The Courier Journal both teams currently remain sheltered in place.
The majority of UPS’s thousands of hourly employees that work at UPS Worldport are members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union. A spokesperson for Teamsters Local 89, the local union that represents the Louisville based workers, told The Courier Journal since the plane was an outbound plane “to the best of our knowledge none of our members were anywhere near it.”
Additionally, the spokesperson said the workers still at UPS Worldport are sheltering in place, largely due to health concerns related to the smoke and the power is off at UPS Worldport.
“Aside from the smoke, we don’t believe any of our members are in any immediate danger,” the spokesperson said via text at 6:43 p.m.
The area of the crash is largely an industrial zone, lacking much, if any, residential homes.
Businesses in the area, which collectively employ thousands of people, include:
- Ford’s Louisville Assembly Plant
- UPS Flight Training Center
- UPS Worldport Freight Facility
- Stooges Bar & Grill
- Grade-A Auto Parts
- Quantum Ink
- Central Farm Supply Kentucky.
Many of those were open with employees on site at the time of the crash.
Around 6:30 p.m., Mayor Craig Greenberg called into WAVE TV’s live broadcast and said, to his understanding, the plane that crashed was carrying about 280,000 gallons of fuel. He said he had limited information about how the crash affected the surrounding area but expressed concern about the location, noting there may be nearby fuel tanks or other flammable materials — a factor that prompted the earlier shelter-in-place order.
Greenberg added that he had been out of town but was returning to Louisville to be briefed on the situation.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said in a statement that he and his team are monitoring developments around the crash and are in touch with local, state, and federal authorities.
“Thank you to the first responders on the scene,” McConnell said in a statement posted on X. “I encourage everyone in the area to follow emergency and law enforcement guidance.”
Everybody is safe at the Ford Louisville Assembly Plant off Fern Valley Road, which is the workplace of about 3,000 people, UAW Local 862 leadership.Local 862 said the power was cut to the plant as a precaution. As of right now, production is down and workers are sheltering in the plant. The flight did not hit the Ford facility.
Ford Louisville Assembly Plant has started evacuating per the UAW Local 862 president Todd Dunn, out of a safety precaution, not because of immediate danger.
“We’re getting everybody out now,” Dunn said.
Ford LAP is also canceling skilled trades work for the night, per Dunn.
Kentucky governor Andy Beshear has been made aware of the plane crash near the airport.
“First responders are onsite, and we will share more information as available,” he posted on his X account. “Please pray for the pilots, crew and everyone affected. We will share more soon.”
Within 18 minutes, he sent a second tweet stating: “The situation is serious. Please pray for the families affected. …”
The security line at Muhammad Ali Airport was empty following the crash.
“Aircraft incident confirmed at SDF,” the airport posted on its X account. “At this time the airfield is closed, more details to come.”
A shelter in place was issued within a five-mile radius of the airport.
“Remain away from the area until further notice,” an emergency alert from Louisville Metro Government to residents’ smartphones said.
UPS and the Independent Pilots Association, the union representing more than 3,200 UPS pilots, are in the midst of an ongoing negotiation over a new labor contract, The Courier Journal previously reported. This negotiation which is expected to deal with items from benefits, pay, travel lodging and more is also likely to delve into the topic of crew time worked as well. UPS pilots previously urged for more rest time for cargo crews back in 2014.
The pilots union declined to provide comment on the Nov. 4 when asked by The Courier Journal. The union spokesperson did however say that the union has committees that have prepared for situations like this and are working to support its members in this time.
The FAA confirmed on its X account that UPS Flight 2976 crashed around 5:15 p.m. The airplane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11, was leaving the Louisville airport and headed to Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu.
“The NTSB will lead the investigation and will provide all updates. This information is preliminary and subject to change.”
In a statement, UPS said: “At approximately 5:20 PM ET tonight, UPS Flight 2976 from Louisville, KY, to Honolulu, an MD-11 with three crewmembers onboard, was involved in an accident in Louisville. At this time, we have not confirmed any injuries/casualties.
UPS will release more facts as they become available, but the National Transportation Safety Board is in charge of the investigation and will be the primary source of information about the official investigation.”
This is a breaking news story and will update.
