Death toll in Louisville UPS plane crash rises to 9
The death toll from the crash of a UPS cargo plane that erupted into a fireball moments after takeoff in Louisville, Kentucky on Tuesday has risen to nine.
KENTUCKY, USA: The death toll from the crash of a UPS cargo plane that erupted into a fireball moments after takeoff in Louisville, Kentucky on Tuesday has risen to nine, city and state officials said Wednesday.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board will be on site later Wednesday morning to begin the process of finding out what went wrong when the 34-year-old MD-11 cargo plane caught fire around 5:13 p.m. ET Tuesday and then crashed.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg confirmed nine dead at the scene of the crash, while Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear indicated on social media that there could be additional fatalities.
The plane, which had a crew of three according to UPS, did not have any surviving crew members.
Following the incident, several buildings in an industrial area beyond the runway were engulfed in flames, with thick black smoke rising into the evening sky.
Eleven individuals were transported to hospitals on Tuesday.
A government official informed Reuters that at least 10 others remained unaccounted for as of Wednesday.
Beshear shared that two people were still in critical condition, acknowledging that the situation could have been significantly worse had the plane crashed in a more populated area.
The Louisville airport reopened to air traffic early on Wednesday, though the runway where the accident transpired is expected to remain closed for an additional 10 days, according to officials.
UPS canceled its parcel sorting shift, which typically begins mid-morning at its facility located at the airport, following Tuesday's halt in package sorting operations.
US aviation safety expert Anthony Brickhouse noted that there was no apparent link between the crash and a recent 36-day US government shutdown, which had impacted air traffic control operations.
The investigators from NTSB are expected to focus on retrieving the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder to shed light on the incident.
Brickhouse further indicated that the focus of the investigation would be on the number one engine, which appeared to have ignited and separated from the aircraft in video footage.
He emphasized that while the plane was designed to fly even with the loss of one engine, understanding the impact of this malfunction on the rest of the aircraft is crucial.
The aircraft was fueled for an 8.5-hour flight to Honolulu.
This incident marks the first UPS cargo plane crash since August 2013 when an Airbus aircraft crashed during its landing approach at Birmingham International Airport in Alabama, resulting in two fatalities.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board will be on site later Wednesday morning to begin the process of finding out what went wrong when the 34-year-old MD-11 cargo plane caught fire around 5:13 p.m. ET Tuesday and then crashed.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg confirmed nine dead at the scene of the crash, while Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear indicated on social media that there could be additional fatalities.
The plane, which had a crew of three according to UPS, did not have any surviving crew members.
Following the incident, several buildings in an industrial area beyond the runway were engulfed in flames, with thick black smoke rising into the evening sky.
Eleven individuals were transported to hospitals on Tuesday.
A government official informed Reuters that at least 10 others remained unaccounted for as of Wednesday.
Beshear shared that two people were still in critical condition, acknowledging that the situation could have been significantly worse had the plane crashed in a more populated area.
The Louisville airport reopened to air traffic early on Wednesday, though the runway where the accident transpired is expected to remain closed for an additional 10 days, according to officials.
UPS canceled its parcel sorting shift, which typically begins mid-morning at its facility located at the airport, following Tuesday's halt in package sorting operations.
US aviation safety expert Anthony Brickhouse noted that there was no apparent link between the crash and a recent 36-day US government shutdown, which had impacted air traffic control operations.
The investigators from NTSB are expected to focus on retrieving the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder to shed light on the incident.
Brickhouse further indicated that the focus of the investigation would be on the number one engine, which appeared to have ignited and separated from the aircraft in video footage.
He emphasized that while the plane was designed to fly even with the loss of one engine, understanding the impact of this malfunction on the rest of the aircraft is crucial.
The aircraft was fueled for an 8.5-hour flight to Honolulu.
This incident marks the first UPS cargo plane crash since August 2013 when an Airbus aircraft crashed during its landing approach at Birmingham International Airport in Alabama, resulting in two fatalities.
