UPS cargo aircraft crashes in Kentucky, leaving at least 7 dead

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said that the death toll is expected to rise / CBS, photo editor: Dastan Shanay

The UPS Flight 2976, operated by a three-engine McDonnell Douglas MD-11, crashed in Louisville, Kentucky, near the Louisville International Airport, shortly after takeoff at about 5:15 p.m. local time on Nov. 4, 2025, while en route to Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, Hawaii, according to CBS News. At least seven deaths have been reported so far.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said in a post on X that the number is expected to rise, and that work is underway to extinguish the fire and continue the investigation.

«The news out of Louisville is tough tonight as the death toll has now reached at least 7, with that number expected to rise. First responders are onsite and working hard to extinguish the fire and continue the investigation,» Beshear wrote.

He also told CBS News that several nearby businesses were impacted by the crash, including Kentucky Petroleum Recycling and Grade A Auto Parts. Two employees of the latter remain unaccounted for and it is still unclear how many people were on site at the time of the incident.

According to Louisville Fire Chief Brian O’Neill, the aircraft was carrying approximately 38,000 gallons (143,846 liters) of fuel and firefighting efforts were complicated by surrounding hazardous materials.

Previously, families of the victims of the Dec. 29, 2024, Jeju Air flight that crashed en route from Bangkok to Muan County sued Boeing, which acquired McDonnell Douglas in 1997, alleging that the manufacturer was responsible for defective landing gear that led to the crash.

Separately, in September 2025, victims of another Boeing-related crash — Air India Flight 171 — filed a lawsuit against Boeing and Honeywell, accusing the companies of negligence.