‘I’ve never seen anything like this’: LFD chief describes response to UPS plane crash

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Moments after 5:15 p.m., when UPS Flight 2976 crashed just outside of Muhammad Ali airport, Louisville Fire Chief Brian O’Neill says the calls came flooding in.

O’Neill sat down with WAVE News Reporter Meredith Lea to describe what he saw during the crash response.

In that moment, O’Neill said it was an ‘all hands on deck’ response for LFD and dozens of other departments across the Commonwealth, rushing to the scene.

“What we’re looking at initially as we get there is just fire everywhere,” he recalled.

The scale of the disaster, he added, was unmatched in his experience fighting fires in Louisville over more than two decades.

The trail of destruction spread across a half-mile. Flames at the crash site, fed by 38,000 gallons of jet fuel, a salvage yard and a p