Video footage shows heavy smoke in the air near the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF) in Louisville, Kentucky, after a plane crash Tuesday. (Credit: @augiewoo via X)
UPS Airlines has grounded an entire fleet of its cargo planes indefinitely, warning of months of disruption during the peak season.
The airline does not expect its fleet of McDonnell Douglas MD-11s, the type of aircraft involved in a deadly crash in Louisville, KY, on Nov. 4 to return to duty for several months, according to the Associated Press.
The UPS cargo plane’s engine failed and burst into flames shortly after takeoff from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. The Honolulu-bound flight crashed around 5:15 p.m., hitting a nearby industrial area and killing 14 people, including the three crew members and 11 people on the ground.
Black box data indicates the plane only reached about 30 feet above the ground before the crash, and newly released images from the National Transportation Safety Board show a fire starting in the left engine.
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Fire and smoke trails where a UPS cargo plane crashed near Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport on November 4, 2025 in Louisville, Kentucky. The fully fueled plane crashed shortly after takeoff. (Stephen Cohen/Getty Images/Getty Images)
UPS temporarily grounded the fleet immediately after the crashand began work to meet Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) guidelines before returning to service.
AP reported that the process was initially expected to take weeks, but will now take several months, according to a memo from Bill Moore, president of UPS Airlines.
“With regard to the MD-11 fleet, Boeing’s ongoing review indicates that inspections and potential repairs will be more extensive than initially anticipated,” Moore wrote in the memo.
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UPS temporarily grounded a fleet of cargo planes after a Nov. 4 crash that killed 14 people. (Credit: X / @WT_Mason)
On November 7, UPS announced that it had grounded its MD-11 fleet “out of an abundance of caution and in the interest of safety.”
The aircraft account for approximately 9% of the airline’s fleet.
“Contingency plans have been put in place to ensure we can continue to provide the reliable service our customers around the world rely on,” UPS said in the statement earlier this month.
Immediately after the crash, the FAA issued an emergency airworthiness directive to owners and operators of the Boeing Company Model MD-11 and MD-11F aircraft after determining that the unsafe condition likely existed in other products.
FedEx said after the crash that it was also grounding its MD-11s.
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The Nov. 4 crash occurred near the UPS Worldport at the Louisville airport. (Google Maps)
Fox Business has contacted UPS for comment.
