15 New Lawsuits Filed Against UPS, Boeing, Others Following 2025 UPS Cargo Plane Crash in Louisville

Fifteen new civil lawsuits were filed in Jefferson Circuit Court on May 7, 2026, on behalf of more than 100 survivors, victims and impacted businesses. The complaints, which include several wrongful death claims, allege that UPS, Boeing and others dispatched a UPS cargo plane in an unsafe and unairworthy condition, leading to its crash near Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport.

The UPS jet, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 registered as N259UP, was on a nonstop trip from Louisville to Honolulu when it lost its left engine and pylon shortly after takeoff.

The plane crashed seconds into the flight into Grade A Recycling scrapyard on Nov. 4, 2025, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The crash claimed the lives of 15 people and involved the explosion of nearly 220,000 pounds of jet fuel.

The lawsuits allege the left pylon and engine departed from the wing, causing the crash. They further allege that an overstress fracture and failure of the pylon assembly contributed to the crash and that there were known structural defects with the MD-11F fleet.

Boeing issued a 2011 service letter informing operators of the risk of bearing race failures on MD-11 aircraft, yet the lawsuits allege Boeing did not alter the inspection interval for MD-11 spherical bearings and bearing races.

The suits state that UPS and the defendants knew or should have known the assembly required more frequent inspections. They allege the defendants accepted the risk of an MD-11 crash by continuing to utilize the aircraft type without more frequent and rigorous inspections of the pylon assemblies. The lawsuits also name the estate of Capt.

Richard Wartenburg, one of the plane's pilots who died in the crash. The complaints allege Capt. Richard Wartenburg was directly responsible for determining whether the plane was in a condition for safe flight.

A repeated bell was sounding in the cockpit upon takeoff roll and rotation, according to the lawsuits, which allege he failed to act appropriately when presented with the alarm bell. UPS pilots, including Wartenburg, knew the plane and type as a problem aircraft with multiple defects but elected to operate N259UP anyway, the filings state.

Defendants named in the lawsuits include UPS, Boeing, GE, Allianz insurance, the company that performed maintenance and repair on the plane, and the estate of Capt.

Richard Wartenburg. The new allegations come just after the crash's six-month anniversary around May 4, 2026. Ashley Muse was present at the crash site and is a plaintiff in one of the suits. "I wake up every day and have to kind of relive it and bring myself back to reality," Muse stated.

Adam Bowman is a plaintiff in one of the suits and pulled one victim out of the inferno who later died. "I turned my head, all I saw was a massive fireball," Bowman stated. " Among those killed at Grade A Recycling were 3-year-old Kimberly Asa and her grandfather Louisnes Fedon.

Kimberly Asa survived the initial impact but died from smoke inhalation and thermal injuries. Her autopsy showed soot in her airway, charring of all body surfaces, and heat-related fractures to her skull, left ribs, and both arms.

His autopsy indicated baking of his brain and right lung from extreme temperature exposure. The lawsuits allege the plane was dispatched despite these risks, resulting in the fiery crash that engulfed the scrapyard. UPS stated: "We remain deeply saddened by Flight 2976.

ABC News reported these details from the filings and interviews. The lawsuits further detail how the known defects and decisions by multiple parties converged on Nov. 4, 2025. In addition to those killed, others suffered physical and psychological injuries while businesses sustained financial losses from the crash at the Louisville site.