What to know about the deadly UPS plane crash in Louisville, Kentucky

Federal investigators looking into the deadly UPS cargo plane crash in Kentucky will closely examine the aircraft's maintenance records and data recorder after finding that one of its engines fell off during takeoff.

The plane crashed and burst into flames Tuesday in Louisville, killing at least 13 people and injuring nearly 20 others. The disaster temporarily shut down the largest UPS package distribution hub and disrupted flights in and out of the airport in Kentucky’s largest city.

No one expects to find survivors in the crash at UPS Worldport, the company’s global aviation hub. Gov. Andy Beshear said Wednesday that a handful of people remained unaccounted for, and crews were continuing to search for victims in an industrial area next to the airport where the plane slammed into businesses.

Here’s what is known about the crash:

Initial findings showed that the left wing caught fire while the plane was rolling toward takeoff, and its engine fell off, the NTSB’s Todd Inman said.

Afterward, the fallen engine was left on the ground beside the runway.

The plane has three engines, one mounted on each wing and another in the tail.

The plane should have been able to take off if one engine was inoperable or even if it had fallen off, said John Cox the CEO of Florida-based aviation consulting firm Safety Operating Systems. But that may not have been possible if one of the other engines was damaged or there was other significant damage to the plane, he said.

Cox and other experts said it resembles in some ways a 1979 crash that happened at Chicago’s O’Hare airport in that killed 273 people when the same General Electric engines detached from a plane. Investigators blamed improper maintenance before that crash.

The NTSB will look into the full maintenance history of the UPS plane as well as the engines and other components, Inman said.

But he said UPS has told the agency that the flight was not delayed and that no maintenance was performed right before it took off.

Flight records suggest the McDonnell Douglas MD-11, built in 1991, underwent maintenance while it was on the ground in San Antonio for more than a month until mid-October. It is not clear what work was done.

Aviation attorney Pablo Rojas said video suggests the plane struggled to gain altitude as the flames blazed along its left side.

The plane, bound for Honolulu and fully loaded with fuel, shredded the roof of one large building before erupting in flames.

“There’s very little to contain the flames, and really the plane itself is almost acting like a bomb because of the amount of fuel,” he said.

He said it’s hard to know if the pilot saw the flames, and that even if the crew realized there was a problem, aborting the takeoff might have been dangerous.

The plane crashed in an area dotted with scrap yards and UPS facilities.

It narrowly missed a restaurant bar and went down not far from a Ford auto assembly plant where hundreds of people were working, Beshear said.

The blaze stretched nearly a city block and destroyed much of the plane's fuselage, fire officials said.

FILE - United Parcel Service transport jets wait to be loaded with packages at the UPS Worldport in Louisville, Ky., Apr. 27, 2021. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, File)

An employee walks to his workplace, the location of the reported crash, after a UPS cargo plane crashed and exploded while taking off at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)

A plume of smoke rises from the site of a UPS cargo plane crash at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)

A plume of smoke rises from the site of a UPS cargo plane crash at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani authorities on Monday launched the final nationwide anti-polio vaccination campaign of the year, aiming to protect 45 million children after more than two dozen cases of the potentially paralyzing disease were reported, officials said.

According to the World Health Organization, Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only two countries where polio has not been eradicated.

Pakistan has reported 30 polio cases since January, down from 74 during the same period last year, according to a statement from the government-run Polio Eradication Initiative.

The campaign is the country’s fifth national vaccination drive this year. Pakistan regularly conducts such campaigns despite persistent security threats.

Health Minister Mustafa Kamal urged parents to cooperate with vaccination teams. “This is not just about numbers. Each case threatens a child’s future and the safety of our communities,” Kamal said about the latest polio cases.

According to the statement, more than 400,000 front-line health workers are going door-to-door across Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and in Islamabad, to ensure no child is missed.

Militants have repeatedly targeted vaccination workers and the police assigned to protect them, falsely claiming the campaigns are a Western plot to sterilize Muslim children.

Authorities have deployed thousands of police officers to protect vaccination teams following intelligence reports warning of possible militant attacks.

Since the 1990s, more than 200 polio workers and police officers assigned to guard them have been killed in such attacks.

“The December polio campaign is synchronized with Afghanistan, ensuring both countries boost immunity together to interrupt cross-border transmission,” the statement said.

Officials said Pakistan has made significant progress in containing the virus.

“We are closer than ever to achieving eradication, and this campaign represents a vital final push to stop the virus everywhere it still circulates,” it said.

A police officer stands guard as a health worker, right, administers a polio vaccine to a child at a neighbourhood in Peshawar, Pakistan, Monday, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)

A police officer stands guard as a health worker, right, administers a polio vaccine to a child at a neighbourhood in Peshawar, Pakistan, Monday, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a neighbourhood in Peshawar, Pakistan, Monday, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)

A health worker, right, administers a polio vaccine to a child at a neighbourhood in Peshawar, Pakistan, Monday, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)