The National Transportation Safety Board has confirmed that the UPS MD-11 freighter that crashed after takeoff from the cargo giant’s Kentucky hub on November 4, 2025, shed its left engine during the takeoff roll, causing a serious fire as the jet accelerated on the runway.
NTSB Board Member Todd Inman said CCTV footage captured the No. 1 engine separating from the wing as the aircraft gathered speed during its takeoff from Runway 17R at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF). “We have viewed airport security footage confirming the left engine detached during the takeoff roll,” Inman said at a media briefing.
The aircraft, operating at about 17:15 local time as UPS Flight 2976 bound for Honolulu, lifted briefly and cleared the airport perimeter fence before striking powerlines, buildings, and terrain about half a mile beyond the runway. The impact and ensuing fire destroyed most of the fuselage.
Officials have now confirmed 12 fatalities, including one child, and 15 injuries. Most of the victims were on the ground when the aircraft struck several industrial buildings near the airport. The UPS jet had three crewmembers.
Inman said both the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, manufactured by L3Harris, have been recovered. “They suffered some heat, not intrusion,” he said. “Once we get these to our lab in D.C., we will be able to get a good readout of the applicable data.”
Investigators recover detached engine
The detached engine, a GE CF6-80C2, was found on airport property roughly 8,700 feet from the start of Runway 17R. Photos from the scene show fire damage along the runway and a large section of nacelle lying near a taxiway. Investigators confirmed flames were visible before liftoff, though the sequence of events leading to the engine separation is not yet clear.
The loss of the left engine would have created serious control problems for the crew at the worst possible moment. The sudden loss of thrust and several tons of mass on one wing likely affected the aircraft’s controllability, possibly preceding an aerodynamic stall that made recovery impossible. Aerodynamic disruption around the damaged pylon may have also reduced lift on that side, while hydraulic and electrical systems powered by that engine may have been damaged. With the aircraft at high takeoff weight and at such a low altitude, it is questionable the crew could have maintained control once the engine separation occurred.
NTSB investigation begins
The NTSB has formed specialized groups to examine operations, structures, engines, systems, and maintenance records. A 28-member team is on site, and investigators expect to remain in Louisville for about a week before moving their analysis to Washington.
The board has not said whether debris from the left-engine failure was ingested by the MD-11’s center engine or whether the fire damaged hydraulic or electrical systems critical to flight control. The agency said it will rely on flight-data and cockpit-voice recordings to reconstruct what happened in the cockpit in the seconds before the crash.
The left engine would not have been visible to the crew from the cockpit, meaning they would have relied entirely on cockpit warnings, fire indications, and engine-instrument readings. The MD-11’s systems likely would have generated multiple alerts for fire, loss of thrust, and hydraulic-pressure warnings as the engine separated and the fire began.
The aircraft, tail number N259UP, was built in 1991 and converted from passenger to freighter service in 2006. Records show it was on the ground in San Antonio from early September to mid-October, though investigators have not disclosed the scope of the maintenance work performed.
UPS temporarily halted operations at its Worldport hub on the night of the crash but resumed limited sorting the next day. The company said it is cooperating fully with federal investigators and has established a family-assistance line for employees and relatives.
A shelter-in-place order for nearby neighborhoods has been lifted, and one runway at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport reopened the day after the crash. Portions of the airfield remain closed while recovery and cleanup efforts continue.
