Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg confirmed this Wednesday that fatalities rise to twelve of which crashed on Tuesday after taking off from Muhammad Ali Airport in Kentucky. “I am deeply saddened to report that the number of deaths has risen to twelve, and there are still several people missing,” he wrote in X, where he promised that the authorities will continue to “provide resources and support to all people affected by this painful event.”
Among the victims is a childaccording to the state governor, Andy Beshear, who has lamented that “everyone has left too soon.” “It is impossible to describe the devastation caused by yesterday’s fatal plane crash,” he added, claiming to be “heartbroken” and pledging to remain “at the side of the victims.”
The fatal plane crash occurred when the device, a 34-year-old MD-11 bound for Honolulu, ended up hitting a UPS company facility, causing a large fire. The aircraft covered the route between Kentucky and Hawaii with three crew members on board and tanks full of fuel for a flight of more than eight hours.
Black boxes found
Investigators have already located the two black boxes – the flight recorder and the cockpit voice recorder – among the charred remains of the plane. Both devices, designed to withstand impacts and extreme temperatures, “appear intact,” confirmed Todd Inman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). “We feel confident that, once in our laboratory in Washington, we will be able to obtain a complete read of the data, and that will help us understand what happened,” he explained to the agency. Reuters.
According to Inman, a large flare originated on the left wing shortly before one of the three engines detached during the takeoff roll. The plane managed to rise a few meters, but ended up exceeding the perimeter fence and collided with several structures located outside the airport complex. The collision triggered a chain of explosions and fires that spread about 800 meters along an industrial corridor, affecting an oil recycling plant that ended up exploding.
The impact and subsequent fires forced the airport to close overnight and temporarily paralyzed the UPS global logistics center (known as Worldport)which handles thousands of cargo flights every day. The company resumed operations on Wednesday night and is confident of “resuming the normal pace” of deliveries this Thursday, according to a spokesperson.
State emergency: in search of the causes
Governor Beshear has declared a state of emergency in Kentucky to expedite the delivery of resources and assistance to the disaster area. Nine of the twelve deceased were on the ground, in addition to the three crew members of the plane, according to the latest official balance.
At least eleven people were injured – several of them seriously – and around 200 participated in the extinguishing and rescue tasks, with fifty trucks deployed to contain the flames. Black smoke was visible for miles, although Beshear confirmed that a convention center, a restaurant and a nearby Ford plant escaped the fires.
Louisville International Airport reopened to air traffic this Wednesday, although the runway where the accident occurred will remain closed for at least ten days.
The NTSB has indicated that, at the moment, there is no evidence linking the accident to the partial shutdown of the federal government, which has occurred in recent weeks. The Louisville tower “was fully staffed,” Inman said.
Aviation safety experts have pointed out that the investigation will focus on the engine that caught fire and detached from the wing. “The plane is designed to fly even with one engine out of service, but we must analyze the effect that the loss of that engine had on the rest of the structure,” explained specialist Anthony Brickhouse.
Boeing, owner of the MD-11 program after the merger with McDonnell Douglas in 1997, and GE Aerospace, manufacturer of the engines, have offered their collaboration in the research. The NTSB will release a preliminary report within 30 days, although the full investigation could take 12 to 24 months.
This is the first fatal accident involving a UPS cargo plane since August 2013, when a company Airbus crashed during a landing maneuver in Birmingham, Alabama, killing both pilots.
