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15 New Lawsuits Filed Against UPS, Boeing, Others Following 2025 UPS Cargo Plane Crash in Louisville
Fifteen civil lawsuits were filed in Jefferson Circuit Court on May 7, 2026, on behalf of more than 100 survivors, victims and impacted businesses. The suits allege negligence in dispatching an unairworthy McDonnell Douglas MD-11 that crashed seconds after takeoff from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport on Nov. 4, 2025, killing 15 people.
May 7, 5:04 AM·3m read1 source
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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.
