(Updated at 7:55 PM ET)
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed in a social media post that an MD-11 cargo plane operated by UPS crashed around 5:15 p.m. Tuesday after taking off from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Kentucky.
UPS (NYSE: UPS) released a statement saying there were three crew members on board. Kentucky Gov. Andy Bashir (D) said during a news conference that officials believe there are three dead and 11 injured, some seriously. The injured are being treated at local hospitals. The governor said: It is expected that the number of dead and injured will increase.
Louisville Airport said on X that the airport was closed due to an incident and that all inbound and outbound flights were temporarily suspended.
Louisville is home to UPS Worldport, the global air hub for express shipping. The plane was full of fuel when it hit the ground.
Social media posts show the three-engine plane bursting into flames upon impact. Helicopter video from local news station WLKY showed the plane crashing into a cluster of warehouses and industrial buildings across the runway near Grade Lane, with flames and black smoke still growing as fuel caught fire. Destruction is widespread. Among the properties hit were Kentucky Oil Recycling and Class A Auto Parts. A photo posted on Reddit shows a large warehouse where the plane crashed. Bashir said Grade-A Auto Parts reported two employees missing, whose names have not been released.
Ford’s local assembly plant was not damaged, but lost power and shut down production.
The Louisville Metropolitan Police Department and several agencies responded to the crash. People who live and work north of the airport up to the Ohio River are asked to shelter in place due to the risk of smoke inhalation.
The wide-body cargo jet was bound for Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, the FAA said.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the incident.
(This is a developing story.)
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