Industrial Accidents

The death toll from the Louisville UPS cargo plane crash has risen to 15 after Alain Rodriguez Colina, a Grade A Auto Parts employee hired in April 2023, died on Christmas Day from injuries sustained when UPS Flight 2976, an MD-11, climbed only about 30 feet before its left engine separated and the aircraft crashed into Grade A Auto Parts and a nearby petroleum recycling facility — Mayor Craig Greenberg confirmed Colina’s death and Gov. Andy Beshear urged prayers. Preliminary NTSB findings say tiny cracks around boltholes in the left pylon’s aft mount and a bracket that had cracked in two places allowed the engine to detach and catch fire, and the FAA has issued a temporary ban on MD-11s, which make up nearly 10% of UPS’s air cargo fleet.