At least seven people died and several more were injured after a UPS cargo plane crashed shortly after takeoff on Tuesday from Louisville International Airport in Kentucky, exploding into flames as it crashed into businesses adjacent to the airport.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 departing for Hawaii crashed at around 5:15pm local time.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear told a press briefing that he expected the number of dead and injured was going to rise.

"First responders are onsite and working hard to extinguish the fire and continue the investigation," he posted in a Tuesday night update on X.

UPS said in a statement that three crew members were on board the aircraft, adding that "we have not confirmed any injuries/casualties."

Beshear said the status of the three crew members was unknown and said that he was "very concerned" for them.

The cause of the crash was under investigation by the FAA and the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). 

Video shared by local broadcaster WLKY appears to show the aircraft's left engine on fire as it tried to lift off.

Officials at the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport announced that all flights scheduled for departure on Tuesday evening had been cancelled, and UPS said it had halted package sorting operations at their facility.  

The flight "went down three miles south of the airfield" after taking off from runway 17R, said Jonathan Bevin, an airport police spokesman. 

Louisville serves as the main US air hub for UPS, according to a company fact sheet. 

The package delivery giant travels to more than 200 countries via nearly 2,000 flights per day, with a fleet of 516 aircraft. UPS owns 294 of those planes and hires the rest through short-term leases or charters. 

Aerial footage of the crash site showed a long trail of debris as firefighters blasted water on the flames, with smoke billowing from the disaster area.

Governor Beshear said the aircraft hit a petroleum recycling facility "pretty directly."

Government shutdown

The crash comes amid one of the longest government shutdowns in US history, with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warning of "mass chaos" earlier Tuesday due to a lack of air traffic control staff. 

"You'll see mass cancellations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace, because we just cannot manage it because we don't have the air traffic controllers," Duffy told reporters.

In a statement on X, Duffy called footage of the crash "heartbreaking," adding: "Please join me in prayer for the Louisville community and flight crew impacted by this horrific crash."

In January, an American Eagle airliner hit a military Black Hawk outside Washington's Ronald Reagan National airport, killing 67 people.

That crash, which ended the United States' 16-year streak of no fatal commercial air crashes, has added to concerns about the US air traffic control system, which some regard as an understaffed operation beset by problems with old equipment.