A trucker’s dashboard camera captured a massive fireball when a UPS cargo plane crashed on takeoff at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport on Tuesday, November 4, at 5:15 p.m. local time.
Nine people are confirmed dead, including four killed on the ground. Several people are reported missing.
Additional CCTV of the UPS Flight 2976 crash. People on the ground here were incredibly lucky. pic.twitter.com/QcyMGJrNhf
— Kim "Katie" USA (@KimKatieUSA) November 5, 2025
Witnesses say the plane’s left wing lost an engine and was on fire as it took off. Cell phone videos show the plane struggling to gain altitude before banking left and crashing south of the runway.
A truck driver captured the UPS plane crash in Louisville, Kentucky yesterday. Terrifying!
pic.twitter.com/FDiWO1SNTJ— Volcaholic ? (@volcaholic1) November 5, 2025
A huge fireball and dense black smoke could be seen for miles. Fire damaged surrounding buildings and charred vehicles and debris around the airport.
Two business, Kentucky Petroleum Recycling and Grade A Auto Parts reported employees missing.
11 people were injured on the ground and taken to local hospitals. Two people are in critical condition in the burn unit.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear told CNN the plane narrowly “missed a restaurant bar. It was very close to a very large Ford plant with hundreds, if not a thousand-plus workers.”
He added, “It was very close to our convention center that’s having a big livestock show that people were arriving for. So, really tough, but recognize it could be worse.”
The Louisville UPS hub at the airport employs thousands of workers, handles 300 flights daily and sorts more than 400,000 packages an hour.
