UPS plane that crashed in Louisville was recently grounded for 6 weeks, possibly for maintenance

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The MD-11 UPS cargo jet that crashed south of the Louisville airport Tuesday was recently grounded for six weeks, possibly for major maintenance.

At least 12 people are dead, including a young child, and multiple others were injured. Two people remain in critical condition at UofL Hospital's burn center. The death toll is expected to rise as recovery continues at the crash site.

Flight logs from the website FlightAware show the cargo jet, with a tail number N259UP, flew from Louisville to San Antonio on Sept. 3, 2025 and did not fly back to Louisville until Oct. 18, 2025.

Collins Aerospace, a multibillion-dollar aerospace company based in Iowa, acquired FlightAware in 2021 .

"San Antonio is a place where airliners --there's a number of facilities there that do heav