UPS Cargo Jet Crash in Louisville, Kentucky
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.
Clifford Law Offices Files Wrongful Death Lawsuits After UPS Flight 2976 Crash
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.”
Clifford Law Offices has also been contacted by several other families who lost loved ones or were injured in the tragic crash, seeking answers and justice. The firm represents seven families who lost loved ones in the crash, as well as several people who were severely injured.
FAA Grounds MD-11 Aircraft and UPS Retires Its MD-11 Fleet
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.
On January 27, 2026, UPS announced the retirement of its entire MD-11 fleet. Bradley M. Cosgrove, partner at Clifford Law Offices, described the decision as an example of “graveyard engineering,” stating that “the sad truth is that corporations refuse to improve faulty engineering until there is a loss of life.”
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.”
Clifford Law Offices Conducts Independent Investigation Into UPS Cargo Jet Crash
While the NTSB and the FAA continued to investigate the MD-11 crash, Clifford Law Offices engaged its own aviation experts to examine the UPS cargo jet.
Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner of Clifford Law Offices, 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.”
NTSB Investigation and Public Hearings on UPS Flight 2976
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.”
On May 19 and 20, 2026, the NTSB held public hearings in Washington, D.C., as part of its ongoing investigation into the crash of UPS Flight 2976. Day 1 focused on “Fleet Safety Processes,” during which technical experts were questioned by the NTSB Board about maintenance issues, quality assurance, and communication processes. The hearing also included discussion of parallels to the 1979 American Airlines Flight 191 crash at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, where the engine and pylon detached from a similar aircraft during takeoff rotation.
“The NTSB’s Preliminary Report and early hours of its Public Hearing show that Boeing, UPS, and ST Aerospace (aircraft maintenance provider for UPS) MD-11 engine pylon structural safety analyses and inspection and maintenance processes were clearly incorrect, unsafe, and insufficient to prevent this accident,” said Clifford Law Offices partner Bradley M. Cosgrove.
On Day 2, the hearing turned to pylon design requirements and certification issues. Boeing staff admitted that the failed aft pylon spherical bearing should have been categorized as a Principal Structural Element during the original MD-11 FAA certification process decades ago. Boeing also admitted that its subsequent Continuing Operational Safety program failed to identify that deficiency and the catastrophic potential of an aft pylon bearing failure to cause premature fatigue failure of the adjoining aft pylon lugs.
“It is unbelievable how Boeing repeatedly fails to properly design, certify, and maintain the airworthiness of its fleet. The communication among parties as to how a plane is to be safely maintained simply isn’t there either. Boeing clearly isn’t learning any lessons from its checkered design, certification, and continuing airworthiness history, and its transparency to its customers about what needs to be done must be examined,” said Cosgrove.
Experienced Aviation Attorneys Representing UPS Crash Victims’ Families
In the wake of this 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 represented the families of over 70 victims, 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.
Aviation Litigation Resources From Clifford Law Offices
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.
Related Press Releases
May 20, 2026
Second Day of NTSB Hearing Reveals Boeing Agrees There Were Certification and Continuing Operational Safety Deficiencies That Led To UPS MD-11 Cargo Jet Crash in Louisville, KY. View Online.
May 19, 2026
Surprising Information Revealed That Boeing May Have Failed to Advise FAA and MD-11/DC-10 Operators of Potential Safety Issues that Led to UPS Cargo Jet Crash. View Online.
May 19, 2026
Attorney for Victims of UPS Cargo Jet Crash Says NTSB Hearings Clearly Reveal Deficiencies in Boeing, UPS, ST Aerospace, and FAA Safety and Maintenance Processes of Crashed Airplane. View Online.
May 19, 2026
Video and Investigatory Photos Presented as NTSB Hearings Kick Off on UPS Cargo Jet Crash in DC. View Online.
May 17, 2026
Victims’ Families in UPS Cargo Jet Crash to Attend NTSB Hearing in DC. View Online.
January 27, 2026
Aviation Attorney Representing Victims in UPS Cargo Jet Crash Reacts to UPS Retiring Entire Fleet of MD11s. View Online.
January 23, 2026
Clifford Law Offices Files Loss of Consortium Claim for 15th Death Victim of Louisville UPS Cargo Jet Crash. View Online.
December 3, 2025
Leading Aviation Law Firm Files First Wrongful Death Lawsuits in UPS Cargo Jet Crash. View Online.
November 20, 2025
Leading Aviation Attorney Comments on NTSB Preliminary Report Issued Nov. 20 on Louisville UPS Cargo Jet Crash. View Online.
