A UPS cargo jet destined for Honolulu has crashed on takeoff at Louisville’s Muhammad Ali Airport.
Police and fire crews are responded just after 5 p.m. to a reported plane crash near the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. Video … shows a plane attempting to take off southbound from the airport with a fire burning off the left wing. Shortly thereafter, it explodes.
UPS confirmed Flight 2976 from Louisville to Honolulu was “involved in an accident” with three people on board around 5:20 p.m. The company wouldn’t confirm any injuries of casualties, deferring to the National Transportation Safety Board as the primary source of information.
We see a huge plume of smoke from our home in Old Louisville, about 4 miles northwest of the airport. This from UPS:
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.
And this video of the fire shows the crash went well beyond the airport:
The plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 has a fuel capacity of more than 38,000 gallons. And since this was a takeoff to Hawaii, that means the jet, an example of which is pictured below, was full of fuel.
Ash and debris are falling in the area, according to local news.
Our house happens to be on the landing path when jets are landing from the north, and we are constantly watching jets approach and fly directly over our ceiling. It’s one of those things in life that make me paranoid because the jets come in so low.
But this was on takeoff, and the plane was headed southeast.
This is what the crash looked like from the ground.
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