A fully fueled UPS plane carrying three crew members crashed and exploded while taking off from Louisville’s international airport, sparking a chain of explosions and fires throughout a nearby business district and prompting a five-mile-radius shelter-in-place order.
The Federal Aviation Administration said UPS Flight 2976 crashed around 5:15 p.m. as it left Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport for Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu.
The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 was loaded with fuel for the hours-long direct flight, WLKY-TV reported. The station broadcast video that a passenger on another plane had taken showing the UPS plane bursting into flame, crashing into a structure of some sort and then exploding.
One of the businesses the plane hit was a petroleum recycling facility, WLKY reported.
Both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident, with the NTSB leading.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
With News Wire Services
