As WLT Report previously reported, on Tuesday evening, a UPS plane at the Louisville Airport exploded on the runway while it was taking off. Authorities have reported 12 people have been confirmed dead from the explosion and many are still unaccounted for. On Wednesday, the NTSB revealed they have recovered the black boxes from the crash scene. CNN reported more on the latest update on the fatal crash: The death toll reached 12 by Wednesday evening, and officials have said they still expect that number to climb as emergency crews transition to the recovery phase of the response. None of the victims has been identified. An NTSB investigation team arrived in Louisville today, recovering crucial assets like the aircraft’s black boxes, which store flight data and cockpit voice recordings. The NTSB has asked the public to turn in any scraps found within the half-mile debris field from the crash to aid its investigation. Passenger flights in and out of Louisville’s international airport have resumed, but are experiencing a significant backlog due to delays on Tuesday. UPS planes also began departing from the airport again around 24 hours after the cargo plane crashed. Industry turbulence: Just one day after the aviation tragedy struck Louisville, the Department of Transportation announced it will reduce air traffic by 10% at 40 major airports starting Friday if no government shutdown deal is reached, citing safety concerns due to air traffic controller staffing shortages. Take a look: The NTSB says both black boxes from UPS Flight 2976 have been recovered. One records pilot conversations, and the other tracks the plane’s flight data. pic.twitter.com/GA0xSqma7f — Crime With Bobby (@CrimeWithBobby) November 6, 2025 WLKY reported further on the investigation on the ground in Kentucky: We’re getting a look at a potential key piece of evidence in figuring out what caused a UPS plane to catch fire and crash in Louisville. A large cargo plane crashed during takeoff Tuesday evening from Louisville’s airport. The crash was fiery and sprawling, and ultimately led to the deaths of at least 12 people. The NTSB, the agency investigating, said the plane’s left wing caught fire and left engine detached. But why that happened is still unclear. Black boxes on planes contain two separate devices: a cockpit voice recorder and a flight data recorder. They are designed to withstand plane crashes and help investigators understand what happened. They are typically bright orange for visibility, but you can see these are now mostly charred black. The NTSB said it won’t speculate on the cause of the crash, and they won’t determine one while they are in Louisville. The ground investigation usually takes 7-10 days and final reports sometimes take a year or more to be finalized. They hope to speed up the process due to how critical the UPS service is.