A United Parcel Service (UPS) cargo plane caught fire seconds after takeoff from Louisville, KY’s Muhammad Ali International Airport Tuesday (11/4), crashing and killing at least 12 and leaving more missing and wounded.
One of the plane’s engines caught fire during takeoff, and it ascended only a couple hundred feet before descending into an industrial area just south of the runway, as seen in surveillance footage of the flight. The explosion sent massive fireballs into the air, with a colossal column of black smoke rising from the crash site for hours as fires raged through the night.
All three crew members on board have been confirmed killed, with an additional eight fatalities on the ground according to the city government. Numerous people are injured, with nine people still reported missing as of 11/6. The city set up a “Family Reunification Center” in South Louisville for families searching for loved ones. No identities have been released as of writing, and officials expect casualty numbers to climb as search and rescue operations continue.
The plane hit two separate businesses as it crashed: an auto parts salvage yard and a petroleum recycling facility. Workers at both are among the dead, missing, and wounded, as are customers who were visiting the businesses. One of the confirmed dead is a young child, according to officials.
Footage of the takeoff appears to show one of the plane’s engines detach before the crash. Federal investigators have stated they are focusing on maintenance issues rather than inclement weather or pilot error. While it is unclear what caused the crash, it is clear that the workers manning the plane and the workers and people in the industrial area crash site have been sacrificed at the altar of the shipping monopoly’s profits.
The aircraft was a McDonald Douglas MD-11, an older aircraft model that has been phased out of most passenger airlines but remains in service for air cargo. These aircraft are known among aircraft mechanics to need heavy amounts of maintenance. Airplane safety concerns have surfaced in recent years at Boeing, the aircraft and arms manufacturing monopoly, with multiple whisleblowers and striking workers raising grievances there about rushed safety inspections, unsafe work tempos, and cost-cutting measures harming safety and quality in the name of profitability—a condition mirrored across industries in the economic crisis. Boeing acquired the company that made MD-11s in 1997, continuing production of the plane for a few years afterwards.
Louisville Worldport, the origin of the crashed MD-11, is the global distribution hub for UPS. The shipping monopoly is one of the largest employers in the Louisville area, employing around 20,000. Hundreds of cargo planes arrive and depart every day, with millions of packages being processed daily. Workers at UPS are well aware of the increasingly high volume of cargo the facility moves and the negative effect this has on working conditions. The crash occurs weeks before “Peak Season”, the time of year around the holidays in the US where workers are forced to work extreme amounts of mandatory overtime, often working weeks straight leading up to the holidays.
Emboldened by the sell-out contract with the Teamsters, after a brewing strike was torpedoed by the union brass in 2023, UPS is forging ahead with mass layoffs and “restructuring” in response to the economic crisis. The monopoly is cutting costs by shuttering facilities, driving up work tempo, and implementing automation of warehouses while laying off tens of thousands of workers. All the while, it drags its feet on hiring the promised number of full-time employees specified in the contact and implementing the workers’ demands for safety measures like air-conditioned delivery vehicles.
Image: A fireball erupts from the crash site of the UPS cargo plane by the Louisville KY’s Muhammad Ali International Airport. Photo retrieved from social media, @LeviDean9.
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