A UPS cargo plane exploded during takeoff and crashed into the GFL Environmental–owned Kentucky Petroleum Recycling facility late Tuesday evening, triggering a half-mile-wide fire near Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. Authorities confirmed 12 fatalities as of Thursday morning, with more expected as recovery efforts continue, according to local officials and the Associated Press.
The fiery crash occurred adjacent to UPS’s Worldport freight hub, one of the busiest air cargo facilities in the world. The Louisville Courier Journal reported that debris and flames stretched across industrial areas bordering the airport’s southern edge, forcing temporary closures of nearby roads and prompting an extensive emergency response. The incident underscores ongoing concerns about runway congestion and nighttime freight operations at major U.S. logistics centers.
Officials said the UPS aircraft burst into flames seconds after takeoff, scattering wreckage across the Kentucky Petroleum Recycling site, which has operated there since 1981. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration arrived Wednesday morning to determine the cause.
Dash cam footage of the impact appears to show the port side engine had fallen off the wing.
GFL Environmental, headquartered in Vaughan, Ontario, acquired Kentucky Petroleum Recycling in August 2023 as part of an expansion into lubricant recovery and recycling.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic event in Louisville,” said Holly Alfano, CEO of the Independent Lubricant Manufacturers Association, in a press statement. “Our thoughts are with everyone affected, especially the employees and families connected to GFL Environmental and Kentucky Petroleum Recycling.”
All GFL employees at the Louisville site were accounted for, a company manager told local media. The facility sits just south of UPS Worldport’s main runway, near a dense cluster of logistics operations. As cleanup continues, federal safety investigators are expected to release a preliminary report within two weeks, CNN reported.