At least seven people were killed and eight others injured after a UPS cargo plane crashed shortly after taking off from Louisville International Airport in Kentucky on Tuesday, bursting into flames as it struck nearby businesses and sending thick black smoke billowing over the area.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed that the McDonnell Douglas MD-11, en route to Hawaii, went down around 5:15 p.m. local time (2215 GMT).

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear told reporters that the number of casualties could rise, as the current figures only account for those on the ground.

UPS stated that three crew members were on board, but added that “we have not yet confirmed any injuries or casualties” among them. Governor Beshear said their status was unknown and described the situation as “very concerning.”

The cause of the crash is under investigation by the FAA and the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

Video shared by local broadcaster WLKY showed flames coming from the plane’s left engine during takeoff.

Louisville serves as UPS’s main US air hub. The logistics giant operates nearly 2,000 flights daily to over 200 countries, with a fleet of 516 aircraft, 294 of which are owned by UPS while the rest are leased.

Aerial footage from the scene revealed a trail of debris, as firefighters worked to extinguish flames. Governor Beshear said the plane had struck a petroleum recycling facility “almost directly.”

Government shutdown

The crash comes amid one of the longest government shutdowns in US history, with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warning of “mass chaos” earlier Tuesday due to a lack of air traffic control staff.

“You’ll see mass cancellations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace, because we just cannot manage it because we don’t have the air traffic controllers,” Duffy told reporters.

In a statement on X, Duffy called footage of the crash “heartbreaking,” adding: “Please join me in prayer for the Louisville community and flight crew impacted by this horrific crash.”

In January, an American Eagle airliner hit a military Black Hawk outside Washington’s Ronald Reagan airport, killing 67 people.

That crash, which ended the United States’ 16-year streak of no fatal commercial air crashes, has added to concerns about the US air traffic control system, which some regard as an understaffed operation beset by problems with old equipment.

• Democratic socialist defeats Cuomo on progressive platform.
• 34-year-old becomes first Muslim mayor of largest US city.
• Spanberger becomes first female governor of Virginia.

Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist, won the New York City mayoral race on Tuesday, capping a meteoric rise from a little-known state lawmaker to one of the country’s most visible Democratic figures.

Mamdani will become the first Muslim mayor of the largest US city. He defeated Democratic former Governor Andrew Cuomo, 67, who ran as an independent after losing the nomination to Mamdani in the primary election. 

The campaign served as an ideological and generational contest that could have national implications for the Democratic Party.

In Virginia, Democrat Abigail Spanberger easily won the election for governor, becoming the first woman elected to serve in that role. And in New Jersey, Democrat Mikie Sherrill won the governor’s race.

The trio of races offered the beleaguered Democratic Party a test of differing campaign playbooks a year ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, when control of Congress will be at stake. Since President Donald Trump’s win last year, Democrats have found themselves locked out of power in Washington and struggling to find the best path out of the political wilderness.

All three candidates emphasized economic issues, particularly affordability. But both Spanberger and Sherrill hail from the party’s moderate wing, while Mamdani campaigned as an unabashed progressive and a new generational voice.

Spanberger, who beat Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, will take over for outgoing Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin.

Both Sherrill and Spanberger had sought to tie their opponents to Trump in an effort to harness frustration among Democratic and independent voters over his chaotic nine months in office.

“We sent a message to the world that in 2025, Virginia chose pragmatism over partisanship,” Spanberger said in her victory speech. “We chose our Commonwealth over chaos.”

Trump gave both candidates some late-stage grist during the ongoing government shutdown.

His administration threatened to fire federal workers — a move with an outsized impact on Virginia, a state adjacent to Washington and home to many government employees. He also froze billions in funding for a new Hudson River train tunnel, a critical project for New Jersey’s large commuter population.

In interviews at Virginia polling stations on Tuesday, some voters said Trump’s most contentious policies were on their minds, including his efforts to deport immigrants who entered the US illegally and to impose costly tariffs on imports of foreign goods, the legality of which is being weighed by the US. Supreme Court this week.

Juan Benitez, a self-described independent, was voting for the first time. The 25-year-old restaurant manager backed all of Virginia’s Democratic candidates because of his opposition to Trump’s immigration policies and the federal government shutdown, for which he blamed Trump.

Voter turnout high

In California, voters were deciding whether to give Democratic lawmakers the power to redraw the state’s congressional map, expanding a national battle over redistricting that could determine which party controls the US House of Representatives after next year’s midterm elections. Trump on social media called the vote a scam, suggesting the vote was rigged without providing evidence.

Turnout appeared high across the board.

In New York City, more than 2 million ballots, including early voting, were cast, according to the board of elections, the most in a mayoral race since 1969. Early vote totals in Virginia and New Jersey also outpaced the previous elections in 2021.

In New York, Mamdani has proposed ambitious left-wing policies, including freezing rents for nearly a million apartments and making the city’s buses free.

While Tuesday’s results will offer some insight into the mood of American voters, the midterm elections are a year away, an eternity in politics.

“There’s nothing that’s going to happen in Virginia or New Jersey that’s going to tell us much about what will happen in a congressional district in Missouri or a Senate race in Maine,” said Douglas Heye, a Republican strategist.

For Republicans, Tuesday’s elections were a test of whether the voters who powered Trump’s victory in 2024 will still show up when he is not on the ballot.

But Ciattarelli and Earle-Sears, each running in Democratic-leaning states, faced a conundrum: criticising Trump risked losing his supporters, but embracing him too closely could have alienated moderate and independent voters who disapprove of his policies.

Trump remains unpopular: 57% of Americans disapprove of his job performance, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed. But Democrats are not gaining support as a result, with respondents evenly split on whether they would favour Democrats or Republicans in 2026.

• UPS acknowledges accident but has not yet confirmed any injuries or casualties.
• Airport houses UPS Worldport, company’s largest global air cargo hub.
• Aerial footage shows fires ignited on ground stretching nearly a mile.

UPS said on Tuesday that one of its wide-body cargo planes with three crew members on board crashed in Louisville, Kentucky, and local police said injuries had been reported.

“UPS Flight 2976 crashed around 5:15pm local time on Tuesday, Nov. 4, after departing from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Kentucky,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. The plane was en route to Honolulu, it said.

Television channel WLKY showed video footage of the crash as it occurred, with a huge fireball erupting as the plane hit the ground.

A government source briefed on the matter said the video appeared to show the plane on fire as it went down the runway before exploding in a fireball.

UPS said it had yet to confirm any injuries or casualties due to the accident on one of its MD-11 planes.

The Louisville airport is home to UPS Worldport, a global hub for the delivery firm’s air cargo operations and its largest package handling facility in the world.

The crash will likely disrupt deliveries for UPS and its major customers, including Amazon and the United States Postal Service.

As night fell, live aerial footage over the scene broadcast by WLKY, a local CBS affiliate, showed the red-orange glow of flames from fires ignited on the ground by the crash spread over nearly a mile.

The Louisville airport said the airfield was closed after the incident, while the Louisville Metro Police Department said it was responding to reports of a plane crash and that injuries had been reported.

“Kentucky, we are aware of a reported plane crash near Louisville International Airport. First responders are on-site, and we will share more information as available. Please pray for the pilots, crew, and everyone affected. We will share more soon,” Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said on X.

According to FAA records, the MD-11 freighter involved in the crash was 34 years old. Boeing, which owns the MD-11 program, declined to comment.

FlightRadar24 said the plane, which began operations with UPS in 2006, had flown from Louisville to Baltimore earlier on Tuesday before returning to Louisville. The flight from Louisville to Honolulu typically takes 8-1/2 hours, the flight tracking service said.