Louisville International Airport reopens after fatal UPS MD-11F crash

Louisville International Airport (SDF), where a UPS McDonnell Douglas MD-11F was involved in a fatal crash, has reopened, welcoming its commercial flights since the accident on November 4, 2025.

According to Flightradar24 data, at the time of publishing, three American Airlines flights, AA 3193, AA 3119, and AA 4786 (American Eagle flight), are on their way to SDF from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT), and Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), respectively.

Flight AA 3193 should land at SDF at 7:48 local time (UTC -5), becoming the first flight to touch down at the airport since the fatal accident involving the UPS MD-11F, registered as N259UP, which failed to take off from SDF on November 4.

The cargo aircraft, which was scheduled to fly to Honolulu Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL), attempted to depart from the airport at around 15:40, and, per Flightradar24, reached a maximum tracked altitude of 175 feet (53.3 meters), shortly before the aircraft’s tracked altitude reverted to zero and its transponder turned off south of the perimeter of SDF.

Videos of the accident, shared on social media, showed the MD-11F’s left-hand wing engulfed in flames as it struggled to gain altitude on departure.

In an update on November 5, Sean Duffy, the Secretary of Transportation, stated that “at least three lives were taken from us and at least 11 people are hurt,” with multiple buildings having been damaged.

Meanwhile, Andy Beshear, the Governor of Kentucky, said that as of the morning of November 5, “we still have at least 7 fatalities – though sadly we believe that number will grow.”

“At the reunification center at 2911 Taylor Blvd., 16 different families have reported loved ones unaccounted for.”

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) confirmed that it was “launching a go-team to investigate Tuesday’s crash of a UPS MD-11 cargo aircraft, Flight 2976 near Louisville, Kentucky” several hours after the MD-11F went down.

While it is too early to speculate, and doing so will not benefit any stakeholder, including the families of the victims, pictures from the airport showed that parts of the engine, potentially the left-hand engine, were lying on the ground near the runway of SDF.

Typically, the NTSB issues a preliminary report within 30 days of a serious accident.