The relatives of a man who suffered fatal injuries when a cargo plane crashed into an industrial zone near Louisville, Kentucky, last year are taking legal action against several companies they believe are liable for his death, including UPS and Boeing.
A lawsuit submitted earlier this week in Jefferson Circuit Court in Kentucky is seeking damages for the family of Matthew Sweets, a 37-year-old electrician in training and father of two. On November 4, 2025, Sweets was inside Grade-A Auto Parts, a business dealing in parts and scrap metal recycling, when debris from a UPS-operated McDonnell Douglas MD-11 struck the building. He sustained third-degree burns over a large portion of his body and passed away two days later at the University of Louisville Hospital.
Attorneys for Sweets’ family claim that his death is directly linked to the actions of UPS, Boeing, GE, and VT San Antonio Aerospace.
Boeing, which took over McDonnell Douglas in 1997, was responsible for the maintenance and airworthiness of the MD-11 fleet. GE designed and manufactured the three CF6 engines on the aircraft involved in the accident, registered as N259UP. Prior to the crash, VT San Antonio Aerospace, based in Texas, conducted maintenance, inspections, and repairs on the plane.
All four companies have faced other lawsuits related to the incident. Each has refrained from commenting while the legal proceedings are ongoing.
The latest complaint claims that Boeing failed to adequately address known issues with the MD-11’s engine pylon assembly. The NTSB has connected the crash of N259UP to the failure of the left pylon, which led to the left engine detaching from the wing shortly after takeoff.
According to the attorneys, both Boeing and UPS were aware of previous problems with the pylon’s bearing race assembly but did not inform the FAA. Boeing is also criticized for not reclassifying the bearing race assembly in a way that would have increased inspection frequency.
GE and VT San Antonio are accused of neglecting their duty of care by failing to recognize or mitigate the risk of a structural failure in the engine pylon.
The lawsuit states, “The defendants knew that MD-11s were compromised. They knew, and they flew them anyway.”
The crash of UPS Flight 2976 resulted in the deaths of all three crew members and 12 individuals on the ground, including Sweets. The aircraft was transporting around 38,000 gallons of jet fuel for its flight from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport to Honolulu, and upon crashing, the fuel ignited in a large explosion. Nearby tanks containing lubricating oil, hydraulic oil, transmission fluid, and diesel fuel also caught fire, leading to a blaze that took over a day to extinguish.
The global MD-11 fleet was temporarily grounded until Boeing created and implemented a repair protocol. FedEx’s MD-11s began returning to service in May, while UPS has permanently retired the aircraft type.
Lawyers for Sweets’ family have not specified a monetary amount in their claims but indicated they will pursue both compensatory and punitive damages, along with attorney fees.
Source: Original article
