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At least 11 people were killed after a UPS cargo plane crashed during take off from an airport in Louisville, Kentucky on Tuesday evening, the state’s governor said.
Andy Beshear said the death toll is expected to rise and likely includes at least one child after the freight plane exploded as it departed Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport at around 17:15 local time (22:15 GMT), he said.
The left engine caught fire and fell from the wing during takeoff, causing a major fire that sent thick plumes of smoke into the air, the National Transportation and Safety Board said.
More than a dozen others were injured in the crash, from burns and shrapnel injuries to smoke inhalation.
Officials said those who survived had suffered “very significant” injuries in the incident. Crews were still searching for other victims, as multiple people remain unaccounted for.
The plane’s three-member crew are thought to be among the dead, Beshear has said.
A preliminary investigation is under way but officials have said it is too early to say what caused the crash, though surveillance footage and data from the plane is helping piece it together.
Investigators have recovered the cockpit flight recorder and the flight data recorder, known as the black box, said Todd Inman with the NTSB, the agency leading the investigation.
In an update on Wednesday, Inman said that CCTV surviellance footage showed the left engine of the aircraft “detaching from the wing during the takeoff roll”. The video has not yet been released.
He said the plane was able to lift off the ground and cleared a fence at the end of the runway before it hit multiple businesses surrounding the airport.
Beshear declared a state of emergency on Wednesday to help “move resources more quickly through emergency management and the Kentucky National Guard”.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said that the airport has since reopened its runway so that flights can resume.
At least 16 different families have reported loved ones unaccounted for, according to Beshear.
Two workers at the auto business that was struck were still unaccounted for as of Tuesday evening, and it is not known how many customers were on the premises when the crash happened.
In a statement, UPS said three crew members were on board, adding “we have not confirmed any injuries/casualties”.
Local officials said on Wednesday that they were unsure how many victims they were searching for, and that the fire destroyed the plane, creating a large debris zone that would make it challenging to find people.
Kentucky Representative Morgan McGarvey said 28 people from the NTSB were on the ground and would “analyse absolutely every bit of what happened”.
Officials did note, though, that the massive blaze was caused by the amount of fuel onboard the aircraft, which was beginning a journey of around 4,300 miles (6,920km) to Hawaii.
It was carrying 38,000 gallons (144,000 litres) of fuel when it crashed.
This made it look like it was “raining oil” in Louisville when the crash occurred, McGarvey said.
It has not been confirmed what cargo was on board, though officials have said the plane was not carrying anything that would create a heightened risk of contamination.
The explosion engulfed at least two nearby businesses, including a petroleum recycling company. A shelter-in-place order was initially issued for within five miles of the airport due to concerns of further explosions and air pollution, but was later reduced to just one mile.
All departing flights for Tuesday evening were cancelled, the airport said in a statement on X.
Louisville Fire Department Chief Brian O’Neal said the amount of fuel spilled at the crash site made it a “very dangerous situation”.
The shelter-in-place order was reduced to a one-mile radius as crews worked to contain the blaze on Tuesday night.
At a press conference, Beshear warned people not to go to the crash site.
“Anyone who has seen the images and the video knows how violent this crash is,” he said.
“There are still dangerous things that are flammable, that are potentially explosive.”
Louisville Metro Police Dept Chief Paul Humphrey said that the crash site will be “an ongoing active scene for the next several days”.
He added: “We don’t know how long it’s going to take to render that scene safe for the investigation to take place.”
The model of aircraft involved was a MD-11F triple-engine plane, which first entered service 34 years ago with Thai Airways as a passenger jet, but was transferred to UPS in 2006.
The aircraft was originally manufactured by McDonnell Douglas, which merged with Boeing in 1997.
In 2023, FedEx and UPS both announced plans to begin retiring their fleets of MD-11s over the next decade as part of plans to modernise their fleets.
In a statement, Boeing said it is “ready to support our customer” and that “our concern is for the safety and well-being of all those affected.”
It added that it will offer technical assistance to the NTSB.
Louisville is home to UPS Worldport, a global hub for the delivery firm’s air cargo operations and its largest package handling facility in the world.
In a statement, UPS said it was “terribly saddened” by the incident and would be halting package sorting operations at Worldport on Tuesday night.
It added: “UPS is committed to the safety of our employees, and customers and the communities we serve. This is particularly true in Louisville, home to our airline and thousands of UPSers.”
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