At around 5.15 pm local time yesterday, a UPS cargo plane bound for Honolulu took off from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. Soon after takeoff, it plummeted to the ground and exploded in a colossal fireball.
State Governor Andy Beshear has confirmed that seven people have died and 11 are injured, though he confirmed that he expects that number to increase. The plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11, had three crew members on board and ploughed into a nearby recycling center and an auto parts shop. All three crew members died, and four people on the ground.
Judging by this terrifying dashcam footage, we’re not surprised. Captured from nearby 517 Abell Avenue, it shows what appears to be a truck driver sitting in his cab, only to see something that looks like it’s been lifted out of a disaster movie coming his way:
A dash cam captured the moment the UPS plane crashed in Louisville, Kentucky. pic.twitter.com/9RXHCQX4RN
— Mukhtar (@I_amMukhtar) November 5, 2025
His reaction? “OH S**T!!! OH MY F**KING GOD!!!”, before apparently running to try and get help.
Mechanical failure?
A second angle of the incident appears to show that the left engine of the jet was ablaze during takeoff, though authorities are still unclear on precisely what happened:
#Breaking: Another CCTV footage shows number 1 engine of flight UPS2976 (5X2976) of #UPS — an MD-11F (N259UP) from #Louisville to #Honolulu — on fire shortly after take-off and before its crash
— Babak Taghvaee – The Crisis Watch (@BabakTaghvaee1) November 5, 2025#Kentucky #Aviation #Crash #MD11 pic.twitter.com/zKhKsz8Hqg
Craig Greenberg, the Mayor of Louisville, confirmed the scale of the devastation and asked residents to report any debris that may have landed in their yards or on their house, warning them not to try and move it until help arrives: “We ask that residents do not touch or move any debris on their own.”
A shelter-in-place order was issued for all locations within 5 miles of the airport, which was later extended to “all areas north of the airport to the Ohio River”, meaning it affected most of the city. Greenberg concluded by saying: “I’d like to send my prayers to the families of the victims in this tragic crash.”
As of writing, the cause appears to be mechanical failure rather than a failure of air traffic control (currently beset by absences due to the government shutdown), but hopefully, we’ll soon know the precise cause of this horrific disaster.
