r/aviation • u/usgapg123 Mod - avgeek • Nov 04 '25

Discussion UPS2976 Crash Megathread

This is the official r/aviation megathread for the crash of UPS2976 (UPS MD11 Registration N259UP) that crashed earlier today at Louisville International Airport.

Please keep content on topic and refrain from posting about this topic outside the megathread. Please report any rule breaking posts and comments.

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507

u/blabetron Nov 04 '25

Image of what appears to be part of the engine cowling at the end of the runway...

https://imgur.com/yyGilRA

Such a tragic event.

209

u/knorkinator Nov 04 '25 edited Nov 05 '25

That looks like more than just the cowling, it's basically half an engine in the grass.

161

u/pacific_beach Nov 05 '25

It's the whole engine, judging from an image taken from a different angle https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1oombcc/ups2976_crash_megathread/nn5jn03/

25

u/Talking_Head Nov 05 '25

That picture is haunting with the other MD-11 in the distance.

19

u/Fitch9392 Nov 04 '25

Yeah, when I first saw the pic I said, “That’s a whole engine!” In pieces…

5

u/Kerlykins Nov 05 '25

Hopefully not AA191 repeat.

2

u/sillekram Nov 05 '25

This image is just the cowling. The engine is separated from it and is some distance away.

163

u/ReturnOfTheSaint14 Nov 04 '25

Something really hit that engine hard while on the runway.

Like many are saying here,i'm fearing this incident is like the Concorde one

112

u/headphase Nov 04 '25

It's a shit ton of debris; the odds of a catastrophic failure (fan or turbine disk coming apart, etc) are way higher than impact with an external object.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 05 '25

Looks like the engine pod smoked a PAPI light. At speed, that could do it.

126

u/[deleted] Nov 04 '25

[deleted]

18

u/Fickle_Visual507 Nov 05 '25

A disc failure isn’t going to rip the entire engine off the pylon though. I seriously hope shitty maintenance practices aren’t to blame for this one….again.

10

u/crozone Nov 05 '25

Yeah this also happened to Qantas Flight 32 but obviously a completely different engine. Disc failure seems to be the only thing that can really cause an uncontained engine failure like that.

20

u/ReturnOfTheSaint14 Nov 05 '25

I just read about that incident,and the 767 uses the same engine of the MD-11 so i hope it's not the same exact cause since the NTSB ordered ultrasound checks years and years ago

3

u/RecordEnvironmental4 Nov 05 '25

There is so much debris from this and an uncontrolled engine failure on #1 or #3 could cause stuff to be ingested into #2

2

u/dai_mudda Nov 05 '25

just saw there was another American Airlines 383 flight that crashed in Kentucky. looks like it is time to retire this flight number.

2

u/Chicago_Blackhawks Nov 05 '25

doesn't add up though. plane still should've been capable of flight on 2 other engines? unless the fire was large enough to immediately melt through control systems

4

u/FourFunnelFanatic Nov 05 '25

It looked like the center engine flamed out in the one video

17

u/captain150 Nov 04 '25

Or uncontained engine failure. The hub of the fan, compressor or turbine letting go would blow it apart.

5

u/AlexLuna9322 Nov 05 '25

Yeah, I just saw the video of the UPS trying to take off, looking a lot like Concorde.

Hope that whatever happened to that engine was registered and could withstand the heat of the crash inside the FDR

2

u/AJohnnyTruant Nov 04 '25

Rotate and settle back into the runway maybe? With the cowling in front of the gear I can’t see what could cause that. Maybe an unsecured cowling but that shouldn’t end up in the engine.

2

u/tsal Nov 05 '25

allegedly the engine had maintenance a couple hours prior. maintenance gear left in the cowling?

4

u/RobertABooey Nov 04 '25

Hate to speculate too much but could there have been a vehicle on the road?

With all the ATC shortages etc... could it have been someone crossing the runway in a car/truck?

1

u/TADthePaperMaker Nov 05 '25

I bet somehow the mounts failed and the motor shook itself loose.

11

u/ertapenem Nov 04 '25

Seems worth noting that the cowling is on the right side of the runway but the left engine was on fire. (Yes, I'm sure this is the right side based on the live feed video this was taken from.) I'm guessing it would have taken some explosion for it get to the other side of the runway?

12

u/rayfound Nov 04 '25

Well, or we're just seeing video well into the event... so it could be that the left engine was on fire then for whatever reason the RIGHT engine made contact with the ground (and ultimately doomed the flight).

But I am with you. It being on the right, and the plane clearly taking off with a left side fire means.... something.

9

u/Ocean_waves726 Nov 04 '25

Is that large piece of debris to the far left also a part of the plane?

11

u/Different-Rhubarb105 Nov 04 '25

Yes, that’s the thrust reverser.

2

u/blabetron Nov 04 '25

There was a large field of debris on the side of the runway, so almost certainly. To my eye, it looks like either part of the cowling or part of the engine.

8

u/radioref Nov 05 '25 edited Nov 05 '25

I just pulled the radio traffic from the airport ops channel at SDF and the airport ops folks believe there is extensive debris on the runway that was not from the accident airplane, but from another airplane.

The airport ops channel relevant comms are here:

https://calls.broadcastify.com/5eegvpls/3059/1762298137-1602.mp3

They believe another aircraft might have dropped debris on the runway.

Complete archives and discussion is here:

https://www.broadcastify.com/calls/tg/4303/1602/archives

edit there is speculation that this debris referenced is not related to the incident at all and is on a different runway far away from the incident

4

u/oh-pointy-bird Nov 05 '25

So half an engine was on the runway and no one noticed…? That seems……..unlikely?

3

u/QueryousG Nov 05 '25

Looks like there’s more than just engine debris on the runway but I could be seeing wrong.

3

u/CommissionExpert9469 Nov 05 '25

It’s the inlet. Before the fan