‘Repeating bell’ heard in plane’s cockpit

Louisville: A repetitive buzzer rang in the cockpit for 25 seconds as pilots tried to control a UPS cargo plane that caught fire during takeoff, lost its engine and crashed in Louisville, Kentucky, this week, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board said Friday.

NTSB member Todd Inman said the cockpit voice recorder captured a continuous chime that began about 37 seconds after the crew called for takeoff thrust, and the chime continued until the recording ended, which investigators believe was the final impact point.

Inman said there could be different types of alarms with different meanings, but investigators know there was a fire in the plane’s left wing and will use flight data to determine a clearer picture of what happened.

On Friday, the NTSB released drone footage showing the destruction on the ground caused by the burning plane crashing into part of industrial buildings, including an oil recycling plant.

Former federal accident investigator Jeff Guzzetti said the bell likely signaled an engine fire.

“This happened at a point in the takeoff where they probably exceeded their decision speed to abort the takeoff,” Guzzetti told The Associated Press after Inman’s press conference on Friday (Saturday AEDT).

“They were probably past their critical decision-making speed to stay on the runway and stop safely… They will need to thoroughly explore the options the crew may or may not have had.”

The crash, which occurred at UPS Worldport, the company’s global aviation hub in Louisville, at AEDT on Wednesday killed 13 people on board, including the three pilots Capt. Richard Wartenberg, First Officer Lee Truitt and International Assistance Officer Capt. Dana Diamond.