At least three dead, 11 hurt as US cargo plane crashes
A large cargo plane with three people on board crashed and exploded while taking off from an airport in Louisville, Kentucky; At least three people were killed and 11 were injured.
The governor said those numbers are expected to increase. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said the plane crashed as it was heading to Honolulu from Muhammad Ali International Airport in Louisville.
The video showed flames and a trail of smoke on the left wing of the plane. The plane then rose slightly off the ground before crashing into the ground and exploding in a large fireball.
The video also revealed parts of the shattered roof of a building near the end of the runway.
“We believe there are at least three deaths. I believe that number will increase,” Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said at a news conference.
“Anyone who saw the images in the video knows how severe this accident was.”
There were three crew members on board, according to UPS.
Beshear said there was also a strong response from police and fire departments to the accident, and that some responders “had to take shelter behind different things” due to the flames.
“The situation is still very dangerous due to different flammable or potentially explosive materials,” Beshear said.
Mayor Craig Greenberg told broadcaster WLKY-TV that the fuel on the plane was “a cause for extreme concern from many different perspectives.”
“There are many injured people and the fire is still burning. Many roads are closed in the area, please avoid the scene,” Greenberg said in a social media post.
UPS’s largest package handling facility is in Louisville. Thousands of workers work at the center, 300 flights a day and more than 400,000 packages are sorted per hour.
Following the accident, which occurred at 17:15 local time on Tuesday, the shelter-in-place order was extended to all areas from the airport north to the Ohio River.
Louisville Airport is just a 10-minute drive from downtown, located on the river bordering the Indiana state line. There are residential areas, water parks and museums in the area.
The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 aircraft owned by UPS was produced in 1991.
via Reuters
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