'You'd think the world was ending': Witnesses horrified to see fiery UPS plane crash Amanda Lee Myers, Chris Kenning, Leo Bertucci and Keisha Rowe, USA TODAY November 5, 2025 at 8:20 AM 57 Editor's note: Follow USA TODAY's live coverage of the UPS plane crash in Louisville, KY, for Wednesday, Nov. 5. LOUISVILLE, KY — Residents here in Louisville were just getting out of work, starting to think about dinner and otherwise going about their Tuesday evenings when they saw something they still can't believe.
- - 'You'd think the world was ending': Witnesses horrified to see fiery UPS plane crash
Amanda Lee Myers, Chris Kenning, Leo Bertucci and Keisha Rowe, USA TODAY November 5, 2025 at 8:20 AM
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Editor's note: Follow USA TODAY's live coverage of the UPS plane crash in Louisville, KY, for Wednesday, Nov. 5.
LOUISVILLE, KY — Residents here in Louisville were just getting out of work, starting to think about dinner and otherwise going about their Tuesday evenings when they saw something they still can't believe.
A UPS cargo plane barreled out of the sky and slammed into a number of businesses on the ground, causing a massive explosion. At least nine people were killed and 11 injuried, according to authorities.
The UPS plane was departing for Honolulu from the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport when it crashed at about 5:15 p.m. local time Nov. 4, authorities said. Video of the crash showed flames on one of the plane's wings, and a huge fireball erupting as the aircraft hit the ground.
Search and rescue was still underway on the morning of Nov. 5, and at least 16 families at a reunification center have loved ones unaccounted for, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said. The death toll is expected to grow, he added.
SJ Matthews, a University of Louisville nursing student who was just grabbing dinner at a nearby restaurant and walked outside with his food around 5:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 4, when he "saw a big cloud of dust."
Nov. 5 live updates: UPS plane crash investigation underway
"You'd think the world was ending," the 21-year-old told The Louisville Courier Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network. "I was just shocked, and then I find out a plane crashed and blew up, then my heart ached for the people in the plane."
Large smoke can be seeing covering the sky over Louisville Nov. 4 after LMPD and multiple other agencies report of a plan crash near Fern Valley and Grade Lane.
Damon Fortner, a long-haul UPS truck driver, told USA TODAY that he saw the plane go down.
He had been driving near the airport to pick up a load of packages when he saw the aircraft fly over a nearby road. "That's awful low," he said he thought.
Seconds later it exploded, barely 100 yards from where he stopped his pickup. He watched the plane take down telephone poles and power lines as it left a trail of fire.
"It blew up. And it just kept on. All you could hear was stuff blowing up, and black smoke everywhere," he said. "You could feel the heat off it."
All he could think about were the poor souls who were on the plane, he said. "It tears me up."
This handout photo, courtesy of Levi Dean, shows smoke and flames rising from the site of a UPS cargo plane crash outside Louisville International Airport in Louisville, Kentucky, on Nov. 4, 2025.
Elizabeth Owens first spotted the smoke from the airplane crash around 5:30 p.m. and initially thought it was a storm cloud. Then it reached her neighborhood and surrounded her home.
"I just saw the smoke just coming up pretty fast from the trees, and then it just spread out further, and it just kept going for over an hour," Owens told The Courier Journal.
She said her family is used to seeing airplanes fly overhead, but she never expected something like this to happen so close.
"We have planes going over our house from UPS all the time," Owens said. "It's been kind of scary because of how close it was. It kind of brings those fears to mind that I didn't really have before, because I've never been this close to something so serious that's happened."
She spent Tuesday evening sheltering in place with her husband and 11-year-old son.
1 / 4Fully fueled UPS plane crashes shortly after takeoff in Louisville, KYFire and smoke mark where a UPS cargo plane crashed near Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport on Nov. 4, 2025 in Louisville, Ky. The fully fueled plane crashed shortly after takeoff with a shelter-in-place order issued for within 5 miles of the airport.
Betsy Ruhe, who is on the Louisville Metro Council, said at a news conference that the disaster hits the heart of everyone in the city.
"This is a UPS town. My cousin's a UPS pilot, my tennis partner is a UPS pilot, the intern in my office works overnight at UPS to pay for college," Ruhe said. "We all know somebody who works at UPS and they're all texting their friends, their family, trying to make sure everyone is safe. Sadly, some of those texts are probably going to go unanswered."
Contributing: Olivia Evans, Stephanie Kuzydym, Lillian Metzmeier, Killian Baarlaer, Maggie Menderski, Louisville Courier Journal
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'You'd think the world was ending': UPS plane crash witnesses in shock
Source: "AOL Breaking"
Source: Breaking
Published: November 05, 2025 at 06:54PM on Source: MANUEL MAG
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