Death Toll Rises to 12 in UPS Cargo Plane Crash, Investigation Ongoing
A devastating plane crash at the Louisville Muhammad Ali international airport has claimed another life, raising the death toll to 12. The UPS cargo plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11, exploded into a fireball shortly after takeoff on Tuesday night, leaving a trail of destruction and debris.
According to officials, at least 15 people were injured in the crash, with two patients in critical condition at the hospital's burn center. Rescuers have located nine total victims at the site, while investigators continue to search for others who may be unaccounted for.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has launched a full-scale investigation into the cause of the disaster, which involved a left engine detaching from the wing during takeoff roll, according to airport security video. The NTSB's lead investigator, Todd Inman, said that the cockpit voice recorder and data recorder were recovered intact, but it may take 12-24 months to complete a full investigation.
"It's like a bomb went off," said aviation attorney Pablo Rojas, who warned of the risks of large fuel explosions. "The plane itself is acting like a bomb because of the amount of fuel."
US aviation safety expert Anthony Brickhouse agreed that investigators would focus on the engine, which appeared to be ignited and separated from the aircraft. "It's designed to fly if you lose one engine, but we need to see the effect of losing that engine on the rest of the aircraft," he said.
The Louisville airport has canceled all outbound flights and reopened air traffic early Wednesday, although the runway where the accident happened is expected to remain closed for another 10 days. UPS has halted package-sorting operations at its airport facility and canceled a parcel-sorting shift.
As officials move from rescue to recovery mode, residents are being asked not to touch or move any debris on their own, with a special form available for reporting debris in yards. Local leaders have also appealed to the public to provide support to those affected by the tragedy.
The US government shutdown has been cited as a possible factor in air traffic control strain, but NTSB's Inman said there was no evidence of a link between the accident and the 36-day shutdown.
A devastating plane crash at the Louisville Muhammad Ali international airport has claimed another life, raising the death toll to 12. The UPS cargo plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11, exploded into a fireball shortly after takeoff on Tuesday night, leaving a trail of destruction and debris.
According to officials, at least 15 people were injured in the crash, with two patients in critical condition at the hospital's burn center. Rescuers have located nine total victims at the site, while investigators continue to search for others who may be unaccounted for.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has launched a full-scale investigation into the cause of the disaster, which involved a left engine detaching from the wing during takeoff roll, according to airport security video. The NTSB's lead investigator, Todd Inman, said that the cockpit voice recorder and data recorder were recovered intact, but it may take 12-24 months to complete a full investigation.
"It's like a bomb went off," said aviation attorney Pablo Rojas, who warned of the risks of large fuel explosions. "The plane itself is acting like a bomb because of the amount of fuel."
US aviation safety expert Anthony Brickhouse agreed that investigators would focus on the engine, which appeared to be ignited and separated from the aircraft. "It's designed to fly if you lose one engine, but we need to see the effect of losing that engine on the rest of the aircraft," he said.
The Louisville airport has canceled all outbound flights and reopened air traffic early Wednesday, although the runway where the accident happened is expected to remain closed for another 10 days. UPS has halted package-sorting operations at its airport facility and canceled a parcel-sorting shift.
As officials move from rescue to recovery mode, residents are being asked not to touch or move any debris on their own, with a special form available for reporting debris in yards. Local leaders have also appealed to the public to provide support to those affected by the tragedy.
The US government shutdown has been cited as a possible factor in air traffic control strain, but NTSB's Inman said there was no evidence of a link between the accident and the 36-day shutdown.
it's just heartbreaking thinking about all those families who are going through this tragedy 
. I'm sure many students are feeling worried right now since this happened at a airport where flights happen frequently 
️. The NTSB investigation might take like 12-24 months to finish, but hopefully they can figure out what went wrong and make some changes to prevent such accidents in the future 
. It's crazy that the plane was like a bomb because of all the fuel, I mean who expects something like that to happen? 
this is just heartbreaking another tragic event on our skies... the thought of 15 people getting hurt and losing so many lives to a plane crash is just too much to bear 
it's just frustrating knowing that something so preventable could've been avoided with proper maintenance and inspections on those planes 
. i mean, as a diy enthusiast at heart, i always think of creative solutions to problems but this is one time where you can't fix things like a broken engine or faulty wiring with just some duct tape and twine 
. all we can do now is wait for the investigation to reveal what really happened and hope that it helps prevent similar accidents in the future 
. Can't we just make sure these planes are airworthy before they take off? 
I mean, can you think about how fragile life is? One minute it's just going on, next thing you know, everything changes forever. The death toll is 12 now, but what about those who were left behind? Their lives will never be the same, right? It's like the plane crash was a sudden wake-up call for everyone around it.
. NTSB investigating but it's looking super grim 
. Fuel explosion expert says the plane itself is like a bomb 
. Can't believe we need another 12-24 months to figure out what happened 
i feel bad for those families, 15 injured too that's just crazy 
... 12 people are gone and more than 15 were hurt. What a mess! 
. My thoughts are with their families and loved ones right now. 
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. The fact that the engine just detached from the wing during takeoff is mind-boggling - you'd think it would've been more difficult to prevent such a catastrophic failure 
. Is it just a coincidence that both happened around the same time? We'll probably never know for sure 
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, 12-24 months for an investigation is just too long 
. Someone should really investigate the airport's air traffic control system too - I hear there was a government shutdown that might've caused some issues... just saying 
. The investigation might take a while, but it's great that they're taking their time to get to the bottom of what happened 
. I hope the responders and emergency services did everything they could to save those in need 
We need to make sure we're learning from this and improving our safety measures ASAP 
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and now there's this huge investigation going on, it'll be months before we know for sure what caused the accident 
#AirSafetyMatters. It's gotta be a thorough investigation by the NTSB to figure out what went wrong and prevent similar accidents in the future 
#NTSBInvestigation. The US government shutdown might not have had anything to do with it, but still, let's hope air traffic control can get its act together soon 
15 injured, including 2 critically ill... 
. I'm no expert, but it sounds like an engine detaching mid-flight was the culprit. Like, isn't that basically rocket science? 
And now we're talking 12-24 months to figure out what went wrong? That's just a whole lotta waiting... 