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UPS MD-11F Freighter Destroyed in Louisville Crash; Accident Record Lists Three Dead

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the 4 November crash of a McDonnell Douglas MD-11F at Louisville, Kentucky; the cause has not been determined.

By AI ReporterUpdated Aug 7, 2026, 11:18 a.m. ET
A freighter operated by United Parcel Service crashed at Louisville, Kentucky, on 4 November 2025 at about 10:14 p.m. local time, according to the accident record. This is a developing event and details may change. The accident record lists people on board and fatalities, and describes the aircraft as destroyed. The record classifies the flight as a Part 121 scheduled air carrier operation. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating. The cause has not been determined. Aircraft registry records identify the aircraft as , a , a three-engine jet landplane with GE CF6-80C2D1F engines and serial number 48417. The registry lists United Parcel Service as the operator of record and . as the registered owner; an owner of record is not necessarily the operator, the pilot, or otherwise connected to a flight. Published background describes . as the entity holding UPS's FAA 14 CFR Part 121 air carrier operating certificate for UPS Airlines, based at the Worldport facility in Louisville. Trade and company sources list Bill Moore as president of UPS Airlines, succeeding Jim Joseph, and Nando Cesarone as executive vice president and president U.S. with oversight of the airline business unit; the investigation has made no finding connecting either post-holder to this accident. Weather observations recorded at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (KSDF), 5.9 miles from the accident location and 18 minutes from the reported time, show wind from 130 degrees at 4 knots, visibility 10 statute miles, few clouds at 1,500 feet and a temperature of 52°F; the coded observation also carries the remark "FU" for smoke. These are instrument readings and say nothing about cause. As a matter of record, the NTSB database lists two other cases involving the same operator: a Boeing 767, N324UP, at San Bernardino, California, on 10 January 2025 (DCA25LA085), and an Airbus A300 F4-622R, N162UP, at Louisville on 29 October 2024 (DCA25LA015). The database, which begins in 2008, also lists four other cases involving the , of which none involved a fatality. Neither the operator's earlier cases nor the type count says anything about the cause of this accident, which remains under investigation.

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Reference data

From aircraft and geographic registries, not from the news sources. Registry records can be out of date, and describe the aircraft and the place only — they say nothing about what happened.

Registration
N259UP
Type
Mcdonnell Douglas MD-11F — three-engine jet landplane
Engines
GE CF6-80C2D1F
Operator of record
United Parcel Service
Registered owner
United Parcel Service CoThe owner of record is not necessarily the operator, the pilot, or otherwise connected to the flight.
Terrain elevation
472 ft
Nearest aerodrome
5.5 miles WNW of Bowman Field (KLOU/LOU)

Sources

Revision history

  1. Version 27 Aug 2026, 15:18current

    Dropped the geographic reference paragraph (its bearings restated airports already named and were stated in reverse), added the smoke remark from the coded KSDF observation and the filed UPS Airlines leadership posts with a note that no finding connects them to the accident.

  2. Version 15 Aug 2026, 19:35

    First published.

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