A chilling near-disaster unfolded at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport early Tuesday morning. A UPS cargo jet, descending for landing, was forced to abort its approach at the last moment to avoid a collision with another aircraft already on the runway.
Audio recordings reveal the frantic urgency of the situation. An air traffic controller’s voice, laced with disbelief, cut through the radio chatter: “What are you doing?” The controller’s immediate concern was for a smaller plane, identified as Skylab 25, which had inexplicably remained on the active runway.
The UPS Boeing 767, Flight 1303 arriving from Atlanta, was just 500 feet above the ground when the order came to pull up and circle for another attempt. Within seconds, the massive jet began climbing rapidly, regaining altitude as the controller desperately commanded Skylab 25 to halt.
“Two-Five, stop!” the controller shouted, the urgency palpable. “SkyLab Two-Five, what are you doing?” The quick thinking and decisive action averted what could have been a catastrophic incident, a terrifying echo of past tragedy at the same airport.
UPS confirmed the successful “go-around,” emphasizing that the maneuver was executed according to standard safety procedures. No operational disruptions or injuries were reported, but the incident has undoubtedly raised serious questions about runway awareness and communication.
The close call is particularly unsettling given the devastating crash that occurred at Louisville’s UPS Worldport just months prior. In November, a UPS MD-11 cargo plane plummeted to the ground shortly after takeoff, claiming the lives of all three crew members and twelve individuals on the ground.
Investigators determined that the MD-11’s left engine suffered a catastrophic failure, separating from the wing and erupting in flames. The aircraft barely cleared the ground before impact, with surveillance footage capturing the horrifying moment the engine detached.
A subsequent investigation revealed structural cracks in the engine mount as the likely cause of the failure. The tragedy prompted UPS to ground its entire fleet of MD-11 aircraft, and the FAA mandated comprehensive inspections and repairs for the model.
The Louisville airport, home to UPS’s massive Worldport hub – a 5.2 million-square-foot facility central to the company’s global air network – has now experienced two alarming incidents in a short period. The latest near-miss underscores the critical importance of vigilance and adherence to safety protocols.
Adding to the recent concerns, a separate incident occurred Thursday near Lexington’s Blue Grass Airport. A small propeller plane was forced to make an emergency landing in a field, though thankfully, both occupants escaped unharmed.
