BREAKING: UPS cargo plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11, crashes near Louisville International Airport in Kentucky

[arielilane]

Here's what we know about the victims:

Richard Wartenberg​

According to UPS, Wartenberg was the captain of Flight 2976. Public records indicate that he had been living in Independence, Kentucky, since 2005.

Wartenberg, 58, appeared to be a car enthusiast. A 2022 article from the Bent Pylon, a publication of the Porsche Club of America, noted that he was a member of the Ohio Valley Region chapter. At the time the article was published, Wartenberg had been a member of the club for 20 years, which had nearly 2,000 members.

Lee Truitt​

Truitt served as the first officer, or second-in-command, of Flight 2976, according to UPS. Truitt was from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

According to a LinkedIn profile with Truitt's name, he had been a UPS pilot since 2021. Before that, he flew for SkyWest Airlines for nine years. He also worked as a flight instructor in Albuquerque and as a line service technician for Cutter Aviation. A graduate of the University of New Mexico, he received a Bachelor's degree in Spanish language and literature in 2006, according to the profile.

Dana Diamond​

Diamond was the international relief officer aboard Flight 2976, a supplemental crew member available in case the other pilots needed rest. Diamond was from Caldwell, Texas — a small city between Austin and Houston.

He also once served as the chief of a small volunteer fire department in Rosanky, Texas, called 3-N-1, according to a 2008 news article in the Bastrop Advertiser.

Who are the victims of the UPS plane crash? Here's what we know so far

The Courier Journal is gathering information about the victims of the Nov. 4 UPS crash in Louisville.

www.yahoo.com

Nov. 6, 2025

 

[Gators North]

May they and the other victims rest in peace.

 

[Chimera]

Rest in eternal peace, Richard, Dana, and Lee.
My utmost condolences to their loved ones.

 

[Charlot123]

Not much is known about the two other pilots, but something about the FO.

Who were Lee Truitt, Richard Wartenberg and Dana Diamond? Pilots in UPS plane crash identified

Pilots Lee Truitt, Richard Wartenberg, and Dana Diamond were killed in a UPS plane crash in Louisville, Kentucky, on Tuesday.

www.hindustantimes.com

First Officer Lee Truitt, 45, one of the pilots killed in the UPS plane crash in Louisville, Kentucky, was from Albuquerque, New Mexico. His LinkedIn profiles states that he was an MD-11 pilot with UPS and did volunteer work with public radio. Before joining UPS, he had worked SkyWest Airlines.

RIP, pilots.

 

[Love Never Fails]

Thanks for this info. !
Glad your dad is ok.

How sad for that entire city, UPS facilities, and most of all those who have lost loved ones.

I understand how ‘Em-oh-Lee feels. I live here also and the pictures alone are horrific. To think some of our neighbors and friends could have or may have died in that fire is devastating. I just heard the death toll is up to 13. Nine are still missing. I always felt safe when flying in or out of the airport and I have huge respect for the UPS pilots as those planes seem to never stop. God bless them.

 

[PrairieWind]

How many are still missing? I seem to be seeing some different numbers. Given the amount of fuel etc, there maybe some that are never identified simply because there isn't left. Horrible.

 

[sds71]

ABC News has confirmed two of the victims. They identified them as Louisnes Fedon and his 3 year-old granddaughter, Kimberly Asa.

Grandfather, 3-year-old granddaughter identified as victims in Louisville UPS plane crash

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.

www.whas11.com

UPS plane crash: Death toll rises to 13, crews search 'mangled' debris for victims

The death toll has risen to 13 after a UPS plane departing Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Kentucky crashed in a ball of flames earlier this week.

6abc.com

 

[sds71]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1986824474608517321

 

[IceIce9]

A young mother is among those missing in the UPS cargo plane crash in Louisville, Kentucky, according to her employer.

Megan Washburn, 35, a mother of two and a scrap metal buyer and customer experience agent at Grade A Auto Parts and Scrap Metal Recycling, was working Tuesday, the day of the crash, and hasn't been heard from since, the company's owner, Sean Garber, told NBC News. Garber's business was one of two properties partially damaged in the crash.

Young mother among those missing in UPS plane crash

Megan Washburn is one of two employees of Grade A Auto Parts who haven't been heard from since the crash on Tuesday, according to the owner, Sean Garber.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[Chimera]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1986824474608517321

Looks like a missile hit.

Rest in peace Louisnes and little Kimberly !

 

[airportwoman]

I saw an interview yesterday with a man who was at the bar that barely missed being destroyed. He was mostly worried about his daughter, who worked at the Ford facility. Thankfully, she was not injured and unlike him did not see the crash.

He also said that the pilots were heroes for doing their best to make sure the plane landed in an unpopulated area. They didn't quite accomplish that.

 

[arielilane]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1986955051626009084

 

[Em-oh-lee]

I have a feeling this is going to be just the beginning of a very long, very eye-opening review of UPS policies in regards to their fleet maintenance, operational procedures and workforce environment. My uncle was a UPS MD-11 captain based here out of Louisville for many years, and ever since retiring he had been quietly sounding the alarm about a lot of things the company does (and doesn't do) regarding crew safety on these old planes. He is absolutely livid in the aftermath of this crash knowing that the company to which he devoted his entire career knowingly put their pilots at risk, in his opinion, and he is devastated to have lost one of his good friends and colleagues, Dana Diamond, with whom he had flown the MD-11 countless times internationally over the years. He has so many complaints about those planes - they're old, outdated aircraft that are as difficult to fly as they are difficult to maintain, and the pilots who fly them are specialized to fly only those planes as they are so different than the 757/767/747s in the fleet.

I am so thankful my uncle retired a couple of years ago because that very well could have been him flying that plane Tuesday. UPS has less than 30 MD-11s, so there's not many MD-11 pilots....the chance of him being on any given one of them would have been quite high.

 

[sds71]

"We made this decision proactively at the recommendation of the aircraft manufacturer," UPS said in its statement.

UPS grounds its fleet of MD-11's, the type of plane in Louisville crash

An investigation has been launched into the cause of the deadly Tuesday crash, which occurred as a MD-11 was taking off. FedEx said it was also grounding the planes.

www.nbcnews.com

https://www.npr.org/2025/11/08/g-s1-97052/ups-fedex-ground-md-11-planes

https://twitter.com/x/status/1987044123317096690

 

[IceIce9]

I saw an interview yesterday with a man who was at the bar that barely missed being destroyed. He was mostly worried about his daughter, who worked at the Ford facility. Thankfully, she was not injured and unlike him did not see the crash.

He also said that the pilots were heroes for doing their best to make sure the plane landed in an unpopulated area. They didn't quite accomplish that.

Unfortunately there are no unpopulated areas near the airport to land in. The tragedy could have been worse if the plane had hit the Ford plant, for example.

 

[IceIce9]

While UPS flight 2976 started uneventfully, a repeating bell was heard on the aircraft's flight cockpit voice recorder just 37 seconds after the crew called for takeoff thrust, NTSB member Todd Inman told reporters.

The bell persisted until the end of the recording 25 seconds later, which Inman believes signals the aircraft's crash.
"During this time, the crew engaged in efforts to attempt to control the aircraft before the crash," Inman said.

Crew of fatal UPS cargo flight tried to control aircraft before crash, NTSB says

As a bell sounded in the cockpit, three UPS pilots tried to control a cargo flight that crashed this week in Louisville, Kentucky, killing at least 13 people, the National Transportation Safety Board said on Friday.

www.reuters.com

 

[Yellowbelly]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1986824474608517321

The site in the foreground at the beginning of the drone video is Grade A Recycling. You can see how the crash has basically destroyed everything in a diagonal from the petroleum recycling plant to Grade A.

 

[SunSun]

Here's the very professional NTSB briefing from yesterday, which will be the last one given at the crash site. It's going to take them months to go over all the data being collected.

NTSB Media Briefing 3 - UPS MD-11 Cargo Aircraft Crash, Louisville, KY

 

[Sillybilly]

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[airportwoman]

Unfortunately there are no unpopulated areas near the airport to land in. The tragedy could have been worse if the plane had hit the Ford plant, for example.

There are residential areas nearby, and those weren't hit.