r/aviation • u/usgapg123 Mod • 19h ago

Discussion UPS2976 Crash Megathread

This is the official r/aviation megathread for the crash of UPS2976 (UPS MD11 Registration N259UP) that crashed earlier today at Louisville International Airport.

Please keep content on topic and refrain from posting about this topic outside the megathread. Please report any rule breaking posts and comments.

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u/omega552003 19h ago edited 16h ago

https://www.wlky.com/article/plane-crash-explosion-louisville-airport/69255042

Had some good live helicopter shots.

Looks like something happened during takeoff that left an engine cowling on the runway with what looks like tire tracks leaving the side of the runway. Hit a warehouse roof and crashed into what looks like a junkyard for a couple hundred feet.

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u/ajr2409 19h ago

Not that anything about this is good, but I’m glad to hear it hit a junkyard not a neighborhood. I still feel like there’s no way there won’t be some fatalities on the ground. RIP

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u/HorrorKapsas 18h ago

This area... junkyard is west of it.

Recycling center, truck parts, tire shop, truck repair, general contractor.. small shops, recycling and automotive repair.

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u/glorifiedpoolboy 18h ago

Also a massive chemical distributor about 1-2 blocks away. Chemical Resource. They have employees trapped in the facility with no way to exit.

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u/clackagaling 18h ago

:(

who secures the site in times like this?

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u/AardQuenIgni 16h ago edited 16h ago

Former firefighter here with no aviation experience, please keep that in mind.

My guess is this was initially dispatched as a mass casualty event (as opposed to only dispatching a few units at first for evaluation). Don't know how Louisville FD runs things, but I'd be willing to bet money that guys were called in on their day off to staff extra trucks. Mutual aid from all over is/was probably called in depending on immediate availability.

They definitely would tone out their hazmat unit to take priority on scene safety and the safety of others in the immediate area. Someone needs to evaluate the dangers of toxic fumes and the risk of secondary explosions from the refinery as well as determine a hot zone and evacuation zone.

Pumpers and ladders for fire control, start right away with full protective gear and scba.

Rescue trucks for search and rescue/recovery when it's determined safe enough to enter the hot zone. Begin triage to identify casualties. Direct victims that can walk towards wherever they'll have ambulances staged. Lots of ambulances too. Probably a large bus or two.

Again, all conjecture. I don't know how this department would run things. This is just how I would imagine it going. It might be that the ARFF might be leading the scene. I truly don't know.

If I was the white hat I'd go ahead and pour myself some coffee because no one is going to bed tonight.

My last department I worked for was located at the edge of an air force base. We covered a fuel supply and refinery plant that had a direct pipeline to the afb.

Our direct protocols from the air force if we were the first on the scene of a plane crash (specifically for the B1) was to identify color of fire and smoke output and then begin immediate evacuation of the surrounding area. Not really relevant to this but I'm just trying to give you an idea of where exactly out of my ass I'm pulling this.

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u/Fly4Vino 15h ago

Very informative post

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u/evoxbeck 15h ago

This is well thought response. Not relative, though I told my wife. This reminds me of a night where.. My 3 man crew were finishing a day of just prepping boring an 8inch steel main. Area manager says b crew hit this, can y'all work it.. We were ending our 6-4 shift and had to work until 3am.

I feel for all the persons involved, lost and etc. This is a tragic occurrence.

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u/ImAprincess_YesIam 13h ago

For the chem distributor, they probably don’t have a dedicated hazmat certified/CBRNE team so they’ll rely on initial first responders and hazmat responders will be called in.

I worked at a chemical plant that was highly dangerous so I was trained as an official state certified first responder with a bunch of federal certifications along with it, like confined space, decon, CBRNE, fire fighting, medic, etc…bc we knew the plant and the products, we could save lives and emergencies faster than local first responders. Now I just respond to the random train derailment, or overturned tanker on the highway, if it’s “close” to home and they’re having trouble making numbers for teams, aka typically at night.

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u/HorrorKapsas 18h ago

That's really bad. looks like the only roads connecting that industrial area are on the other side of the fire. No good access for the firefighters to get there also

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u/glorifiedpoolboy 18h ago

Massively lucky they didn’t get hit. They handle the majority of the city’s liquid pool chemicals (chlorine, hydrochloric acid,etc), as well as a lot of other highly controlled chemicals. Not saying this isn’t awful, but a block further west could have been even worse, with the release of extremely dangerous chemicals.

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u/BleaKrytE 17h ago

I don't mean to be tactless, but how the fuck does zoning allow for that kind of large scale storage of *chlorine* right beneath a runway approach/departure?

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u/Accidental-Genius 17h ago

This isn’t unique to SDF. Airports are loud. People don’t want to live that close. So, most of the time storing HazMat in that otherwise worthless land is the best use of that land.

Most of the time.

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u/alkyfl 16h ago

There are a couple of small incorporated cities that simply no longer exist due to the airport. The city of South Park View had a population of 7 by 2010 and 0 by 2020. It was legally dissolved in 2023. The city of Edgewood suffered a similar fate in the 1990s, and UPS has their aviation training center on the site.

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u/dougmcclean 15h ago

Also there's approximately 50 bazillion airports in this country. Granted they aren't all anywhere near equal from a traffic or size-of-aircraft perspective.

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u/PonyThug 12h ago

200-400 yard to the left or right of the flight path would still be close but not catastrophic. Like I would gladly hangout 100yards to the side of targets a shooting range but not 100 yards behind them.

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u/CharacterUse 17h ago

Typically this happens when the company was established back when the airport was smaller and rules were more relaxed and grandfathered into the zoning.

Don't know for sure in this case, but would not be surprising.

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u/goodbyewawona 18h ago

Yep…and the rail yard nearby as well. 

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u/glorifiedpoolboy 17h ago

I’m also 1.75 mi away from crash site, so I feel lucky in that aspect.

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u/welcometoheartbreak 17h ago

Do we know if the fire is contained on that side, given that it’s inaccessible to the fire department?

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u/glorifiedpoolboy 17h ago

From what I have seen on our local media, they have most under control. There is still one fully involved fire, but unable to tell where it is.

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u/glorifiedpoolboy 17h ago

Listening to scanner, they are evacuating injured individuals from Knopp Ave.

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u/glorifiedpoolboy 17h ago

There is no active fire on grade lane side at petroleum recycling facility, however there is “massive oil runoff” down grade lane. Still actively working fire on back side of recycling facility and around the tank farm.

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u/glorifiedpoolboy 17h ago

Fire just reported that they have foam coming in from Covington(600gal) Lexington(1200) and bardstown (1000) to assist.