UPS cargo plane crashes after takeoff from Louisville airport, killing 7

[UPS Cargo Plane Crashes In Louisville]
Stephen Cohen/Getty Images News

A UPS (UPS [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/UPS]) cargo plane crashed and exploded in a fireball shortly after takeoff from Louisville, Kentucky, killing at least seven people and injuring 11 others.

The plane, bound for Honolulu, took off from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport Tuesday evening. The crash killed the three crew members onboard the plane and four on the ground.

"The news out of Louisville is tough as the death toll has now reached at least 7, with that number expected to rise," Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear posted on X.

It's unclear what caused the crash. Video showed flames on the plane's left wing, after which it lifted slightly off the ground before crashing and exploding.

"We are engaged with the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation of the accident and are staying in close contact with the Federal Aviation Administration," UPS (UPS [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/UPS]) said in a statement [https://about.ups.com/us/en/newsroom/statements/ups-statement-on-aircraft-accident.html]. "As a result of the accident, we are halting package sorting operations tonight at Worldport."

Shares of UPS (UPS [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/UPS]) were down 1.5% before the bell on Wednesday.

UPS Worldport at the Louisville airport is the company's largest package delivery hub. The facility has 300 daily flights, sorts over 400,000 packages an hour, and employs more than 20,000 people.

The crashed plane was a 34-year-old MD-11F - a freight transport aircraft originally manufactured by McDonnell Douglas, which merged with Boeing (BA [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BA]) in 1997. Boeing terminated the MD-11 program in 1998.

UPS (UPS [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/UPS]), which retired some MD-11 planes in recent years, currently has a little over 25 of the aircraft in operation. Rival FedEx (FDX [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/FDX]) has over 20 of these planes in service.

_- The Associated Press contributed to this report._

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