'It was intense' | Aerial footage shows scale of UPS plane crash site in Louisville | Local News

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The aftermath of Tuesday’s UPS plane crash near Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport remains starkly visible from both the air and the ground as investigators work to piece together what happened.

A temporary flight restriction (TFR) remains in place around the crash site, limiting air traffic as drones and investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board survey the scene. A handful of flights have been allowed to come and go, but for most, the airspace is tightly controlled.

Flying over the site gives a sobering perspective. It’s one thing to see the video — it’s all together different to see the damage in person, especially when you're not sure what to expect.

From 2,000 feet above the city, the distance between Bowman Field and Muhammad Ali International appears deceptively close under the late fall sky. As the plane approaches the airfield, lights along the western runway signal the presence of investigators, and the long cut along the roof of a building reveals the structure believed to have been struck by UPS Flight 2976.

Nearby residents Dianna and Timothy Gaddis recounted the chaos.

“I heard the initial blast and came out, and then multiple explosions … one after another,” Dianna Gaddis said. “We felt it, heard it, could almost feel a rumble in the ground. It was intense.”

On the ground, video released by Mayor Craig Greenberg's office shows the scale of the destruction: smoldering debris, the remains of semi-trucks, and twisted metal from what appears to have been the brunt of the impact.

Back in the air, along the edge of the TFR, there is limited chatter from Air Traffic Control to the few planes coming in for a landing as families wait for answers about their missing loved ones.

"It makes you stop and think," Dianna Gaddis said.

Despite the tragedy, flights have resumed in limited fashion, including at least one UPS plane taking off. As the nearly full moon rose in the eastern sky and the sun set to the west, the city below bore the weight of a disaster that will take months to fully understand.