UPS Cargo Plane Crashes at Louisville Airport

Wed Nov 05 2025 08:13:51 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

A UPS cargo plane has crashed at the company's major hub in Louisville, Kentucky, highlighting the scale and operations of Worldport, its largest package delivery center.

On Tuesday, a UPS cargo plane crashed at Louisville's Worldport facility, the largest package delivery hub for UPS. The center processes 2 million packages daily, employs around 20,000 people, and serves as a crucial logistics point for the company. Kentucky's strategic location allows UPS to reach 95% of the U.S. population within a four-hour flight. Despite the incident, UPS is expanding its operations with new hangars and additional support for UPS Healthcare.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (RTWNews) — A UPS cargo plane crashed Tuesday at Louisville's Worldport facility, the company's largest hub for package deliveries. With a staggering capacity, the operation processes around 2 million packages each day, utilizing a workforce of approximately 20,000 employees, making it the largest employer in the Louisville area.

Worldport, located at Muhammad Ali International Airport, covers an area equal to 10 football fields and can handle 416,000 packages and documents per hour. Its advantageous position in Kentucky means that UPS can efficiently serve 95% of the U.S. population within just four hours of flight time.

Facility Enhancements on the Horizon

In a bid to further expand operations, UPS announced plans last year for a new aircraft hangar capable of accommodating two large 747 aircraft along with eight flight simulators. This expansion will also support UPS Healthcare, which delivers critical shipments for clinical trials and medical care.

Flight Operations

Currently, more than 300 flights operate daily from the center, with the capacity for parking 125 aircraft. UPS's fleet includes various types of aircraft, including 27 MD-11 models—the type involved in Tuesday's incident—alongside several other Boeing and Airbus jets.

A Brief History

Founded in 1907 as American Messenger Co., UPS adopted its current name in 1919 and received FAA approval to manage its own airline operations in 1988. Now headquartered in Atlanta, UPS employs nearly 490,000 individuals around the globe.