EDITOR'S NOTE: This story is being updated at this link. The original story below may contain preliminary or out-of-date information.
ORIGINAL REPORT | A UPS MD-11 plane crashed near the Louisville, Kentucky, airport, according to preliminary information, a source says.
Louisville Metro Police Department and other agencies are responding to the reported plane crash, LMPD said in an X post. Injuries have been reported, police said.
A massive plume of black smoke rising not far from the tarmac at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, videos from CNN affiliate WAVE show.
Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport is the worldwide air hub for UPS. The company’s Worldport is more than 5 million square feet where more than 12,000 UPS employees process more than two million packages a day, according to the company.
A shelter-in-place has been issued for all locations within 5 miles of the airport, police added.
“LMPD and multiple other agencies are responding to reports of a plane crash near Fern Valley and Grade Lane,” the post said. “Grade lane will be closed indefinitely between Stooges and Crittenden.”
The McDonnell Douglas MD-11F is a freight transport aircraft manufactured originally by McDonnell Douglas and later by Boeing. The aircraft is primarily flown by FedEx Express, Lufthansa Cargo and UPS Airlines for cargo.
The McDonnell Douglass MD-11 served as a popular wide-bodied passenger airplane after it was first flown in 1990.
As fuel costs increased for the three engine jets many of them were converted to freighters. The plane can take off weighing in at a maximum 633,000 pounds and carrying more than 38,000 gallons of fuel, according to Boeing, which bought McDonnell Douglass.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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