A UPS cargo jet crashed shortly after takeoff from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport on November 4, 2025, igniting a massive fire and sending thick plumes of smoke nearly a mile into the sky. The crash of the MD-11 aircraft killed 14 people, including the three-person flight crew and 11 people on the ground. Over 200 first responders rushed to the scene as Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency and mobilized the National Guard to aid in rescue and recovery efforts. The disaster has left families, first responders, and the local community grappling with the tragedy, while federal investigators work to determine what caused the plane to fail so catastrophically during takeoff.
On December 3, Clifford Law Offices and Aguiar Injury Lawyers filed two wrongful death lawsuits on behalf of the families of Angela Anderson, 45, and Trinadette “Trina” Chavez, 37, both mothers and victims of the tragic crash in Louisville. The suits allege negligence by UPS, GE, Boeing, and others following the NTSB’s finding of fatigue cracks and overstress failure in the engine pylon.
“This crash was preventable… This plane should never have been airworthy to be in the air that day,” Clifford Law Offices partner Bradley M. Cosgrove shared in a joint press conference with attorneys and victims’ family members shortly after the filings. “Allowing an airplane in this condition to take off from an airport in a community full of innocent people, loaded completely with fuel, is unforgivable,” said partner Tracy A. Brammeier. “Our work will be to figure out exactly how that happened, who allowed that to happen, and why they allowed it to happen.”
The internationally recognized plaintiffs’ firm has also been contacted by several other families who lost loved ones or were injured in the tragic crash, seeking answers and justice. Known for decades of experience handling catastrophic commercial aviation disasters and its commitment to Righting the Heaviest Wrongs®, the firm is prepared to support families in pursuing accountability and advancing safety within the aviation industry.
Effective November 8, 2025, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded all MD-11 aircraft pending further investigation. According to the FAA, the unsafe condition identified is likely to exist or develop in other products of the same type design. There are currently 82 MD-11 aircraft in operation worldwide, including 70 in the United States. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has deployed a team of investigators to examine the crash site and determine the cause of the accident.
An internal UPS memo that surfaced amid investigations revealed that inspections and potential repairs to the grounded UPS MD-11 fleet will be far more extensive than initially anticipated, extending the aircraft’s return to service by months rather than weeks. In response to this development, Clifford Law Offices emphasized the significance of the memo within the broader context of the investigations and litigation. “There needs to be extensive inspections performed on the entire fleet… that likely needed to take place years ago,” said Cosgrove in an interview with WLKY. “What I think is going to be important moving forward is that we get lawsuits on file and we get the legal process started. The victims can have some say in this investigation.”
On November 20, the NTSB released a preliminary report that, according to Robert Clifford, indicates that the crash of a UPS cargo jet on November 4 was preventable. Clifford shared in a press release: “What is new about this case is that the age of the aircraft suggests that this plane was old, tired, and well beyond its useful life, even though the owner and the operators continued to push it into service, certainly triggering questions about profit over safety. The NTSB investigation reveals fatigue fractures of the bolts and locking devices that held the engine to the wing. Metal fatigue can happen over time and should be detected upon proper safety investigations and inspections.”
“The failure to properly detect the fatigue fractures could easily be the reason why there was an ultimate failure of the pylon used to attach the engine to the wing. The victims of this crash can rightly point to all associated with the ownership, operation, and maintenance of this aircraft, as the investigation continues.”
While the NTSB and the FAA continue to investigate the MD-11 crash, Clifford Law Offices has engaged its own aviation experts to examine the UPS cargo jet. Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner and a global leader in aviation litigation who has represented families in nearly every major domestic and commercial aviation disaster since 1979, stated, “Already we have aviation experts examining the crash, and given the early information, it appears to be clear that this crash was completely avoidable.”
In the wake of this preventable tragedy, Clifford Law Offices is providing direct counsel and support to the affected families, leveraging decades of experience handling some of the most complex and high-profile aviation cases in the United States and around the world. The firm has represented victims in nearly every major commercial airline crash in the U.S. over the past 40 years, including the Boeing 737 MAX8 crash in Ethiopia, where Clifford Law Offices represents 74 families, the tragic January 29, 2025, collision between an American Airlines jet and a U.S. military Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River, as well as families impacted by the Air India Flight AI-171 crash, Turkish Airlines, United Airlines Flight 585, and US Air Flight 427. This extensive history of aviation litigation positions the firm to guide families through the legal, investigative, and safety-related complexities that follow such catastrophic events.
Among Clifford’s aviation litigation experience is the 1979 crash of American Airlines Flight 191 at O’Hare Airport, in which the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 crashed just after takeoff, killing all 258 passengers, 13 crew members, and two people on the ground. In an interview with Anita Blanton, host of Fox News’ Chicago Live, Clifford noted that the UPS crash is reminiscent of the O’Hare disaster. He represented many of the families who lost loved ones in that crash, which at the time was the deadliest air disaster in U.S. history.
“The [November 4] crash of a Boeing MD-11 cargo jet is reminiscent of the American Airlines jet that crashed just after takeoff from O’Hare Airport. The engine fell off shortly after takeoff, and the plane crashed, killing everyone on board. I think the investigation will reveal striking similarities to what occurred there.”
Robert Clifford and the Clifford Law Offices aviation practice group have handled high-profile aviation disasters, with his work often uncovering issues that influence aircraft safety design, regulatory standards, and policy reform. He has repeatedly addressed the problem known as “graveyard engineering.”
“The aviation industry needs to learn not to repeat its mistakes.”
-Robert Clifford
While many of the firm’s aviation cases have resulted in multi-million dollar settlements or verdicts, Clifford Law Offices continues to protect the rights of those harmed by corporate negligence and to advance aviation safety. The firm has a longstanding reputation for handling complex litigation arising from commercial and private air disasters. Plane crash victims benefit from the firm’s extensive experience, resources, and proven ability to guide complex aviation cases from start to resolution.
View the firm’s Aviation Brochure and Aviation Case Studies to learn more about the aviation litigation work of Robert Clifford and Clifford Law Offices.
