At least seven dead after UPS plane crashes in fireball on takeoff from Kentucky

A UPS wide-body cargo plane crashed on Tuesday (Nov 4) and erupted into a fireball moments after takeoff from the international airport in Louisville, Kentucky, killing seven, including all three aboard, and injuring 11 on the ground, officials said.

Flames from the crash, shortly before sundown, ignited a string of fires on the ground in an industrial corridor adjacent to the international airport, forcing authorities to halt flight operations through the night, the officials said.

The Louisville airport, which is home to UPS Worldport - a global hub for the shipping company's air cargo operations and its largest package-handling facility worldwide - was expected to reopen on Wednesday morning.

Two runways were strewn with debris from the crash.

In a Tuesday night service alert, UPS said delivery schedules for airborne and international packages "may be affected" by the disruption.

"Contingency plans are in place to help ensure that shipments arrive at their final destinations as quickly as conditions permit," it added.

The triple-engine plane was fuelled for an 8.5-hour flight to Honolulu. It had a crew of three, UPS said. None survived, officials said.

Separately, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said the death toll was at least seven and expected to rise. Some survivors had suffered "very significant" injuries, he said.

It was the first UPS cargo plane to crash since August 2013, when an Airbus aircraft went down on a landing approach to the international airport in Birmingham, Alabama, killing both crew.

Television channel WLKY, a CBS affiliate, showed video of the crash, with flames visible as the plane took off, and the fireball erupting as it hit the ground. 

Several buildings in an industrial area beyond the runway were on fire after the crash, with thick black smoke rising into the evening sky.

Beshear said stricken facilities on the ground included a petroleum recycling centre and an auto parts business.

"UPS Flight 2976 crashed around 5.15pm local time on Tuesday, Nov 4, after departing from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Kentucky," the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement.

One key question investigators will look at is whether the engine separated before the crash, a person briefed on the matter said, noting video reports of debris on the airfield.

The cause and origin of the fire before the aircraft went down were also unknown.

US air safety expert and pilot John Cox said investigators will need to look at why the plane with three engines failed to fly after the first one caught fire.

“It’s too big a fire for a normal, typical-engine fire,” Cox said. “It’s much too big.” 

“That airplane should have flown on two engines. So now we’ve got to look at what caused it not to fly,” he added.

Fires on the ground burned for hours afterwards, with authorities warning the public within a 8km radius of the scene to stay indoors to guard against air-quality hazards. The shelter-in-place zone was later reduced to a mile across.

CRASH INVOLVED 34-YEAR-OLD PLANE 

FAA records show the plane involved in the crash, an MD-11 freighter, was 34 years old. 

Boeing, which shut down the MD-11 programme after acquiring it in its merger with McDonnell Douglas, said it was concerned for the safety and well-being of all those affected, and it would provide technical support to the investigation. 

Flightradar24 said the plane, which began operations with UPS in 2006, had flown from Louisville to Baltimore earlier on Tuesday before returning to Louisville.

The aircraft climbed to an altitude of 175 feet and reached a speed of 184 knots before making a sharp descent, according to data from Flightradar24.

A National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) spokesperson said it would be leading the investigation and it was sending a team to the site. The NTSB typically takes 12 to 24 months to complete an investigation, make a finding of probable cause and issue recommendations to help avoid similar incidents.

UPS is the largest employer in Louisville, providing 26,000 jobs in the area, according to the publication Louisville Business First.

"We are terribly saddened by the accident tonight in Louisville," the company said in a statement.

Louisville's Worldport is at the centre of the hub-and-spoke system for its air cargo network, serving the high-tech, healthcare and retail industries, handling more than 300 flights and processing about 2 million packages a day.

More than 150 UPS customers, such as Merck & Co and other major pharmaceutical companies, have inventory there

"My heart goes out to everybody at UPS, because this is a UPS town," Louisville Metro Council member Betsy Ruhe, whose district includes the airport, said at the press conference.

"We all know somebody who works at UPS, and they're all texting their friends, their family, trying to make sure everyone is safe. Sadly, some of those texts are probably going to go unanswered."