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)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — From the moment Curt Cignetti took Indiana's head coaching job, he made it clear this would be a different program.

He refused to tolerate any moral victories or close calls and instead expected to win, to win big and win immediately.

In just 737 days, he turned what had been the Football Bowl Subdivision's losingest program into the nation's No. 1 seed heading into the playoffs, a legitimate championship contender and a Big Ten champion for the first time since 1967.

“I think we were a year late,” he joked as the trophy presentation began following Saturday night's 13-10 win over No. 1 Ohio State.

To the rest of the college football world, Cignetti's incredible turnaround has come so quickly, it's likely to lift the expectations of every program in America.

He took over a team that had endured three consecutive losing seasons since qualifying for a bowl game and brashly dared anyone who thought he couldn't win to Google him. The former Nick Saban assistant delivered quickly, winning a school record 11 games and taking the Hoosiers to their first playoff appearance in Year 1.

The doubters didn't think Cignetti or the Hoosiers could come anywhere near replicating that kind of success this season.

But they've been ever better in 2025. At 13-0, the Hoosiers are the last unbeaten team in major college football. They could even be facing his former school, Sun Belt Conference champion James Madison (12-1) in the quarterfinals.

By beating the Buckeyes (12-1) in Indianapolis, they ended the nation's longest active winning streak at 16. When they beat then No. 3 Oregon (11-1) in October, they ended the nation's longest active regular season winning streak and the nation's longest active home winning streak.

In between they shed the label of FBS' losingest program, gladly handing the title to Northwestern. And now they have their first win over Ohio State since 1988, snapping a 30-year losing streak by winning their first conference crown in more than half a century.

Not enough? Cignetti earned his second straight Big Ten Coach of the Year Award this week, Fernando Mendoza became the first Hoosier to be named the Big Ten's top quarterback since 2001, and Mendoza also appears poised to become the first Indiana player to win the Heisman Trophy after adding two more signature moments to his resume.

His perfectly placed 17-yard TD pass to Elijah Sarratt on the sideline gave Indiana a 13-10 lead midway through the third quarter, and he sealed the win with an incredible 33-yard pass to Charlie Becker on third down with about two minutes to go — all after getting hurt on the first play of the game.

“Although I got hit, I never was going to stay down,” Mendoza said. “I’d die for my brothers on that field.”

Naturally, the brash-talking Cignetti went for it, too, and Mendoza made him look like a genius.

“I wasn't going to play not to lose,” Cignetti said.

How good has Indiana been during his two-year tenure?

They are now 24-2, the only losses coming at Ohio State and at Notre Dame last season, the two teams that played in the national championship game. Cignetti and his players have each spoken about what they learned from those experiences and how it helped steel them for the mission they've been on this season, and he's already had his contract extended twice.

Indiana heads into the playoffs with an offense and defense ranked the top five in scoring and that managed to beat Ohio State at its usual game — physically playing keep away, wearing down opponents and holding them out of the end zone.

Now a new journey begins for Cignetti and a school far more renowned for winning national titles in men's basketball, men's soccer and swimming and diving. Football has never come close — until now. And these Hoosiers believe they have what it takes to continue what seemed unthinkable just two years ago.

“It means a lot, we played for each other,” linebacker Isaiah Jones said of winning the championship. “For any of the doubters out there, this was the final nail in the coffin.”

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Indiana's Fernando Mendoza celebrates after the Big Ten championship NCAA college football game against Ohio State in Indianapolis, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)