A cargo plane crashed in a fireball shortly after takeoff from Louisville, in the central-eastern United States, killing at least seven people according to the governor of Kentucky, who expects a heavier toll as the hours pass.
UPS Flight 2976, bound for Hawaii, “crashed around 5.15pm local time,” the US aviation authority FAA said, identifying the plane as a McDonnell Douglas MD-11. The plane had “three crew members on board,” the carrier UPS, whose aviation division headquarters is in Louisville, said in a separate statement.
“The news from Louisville is difficult this evening, the toll is now at seven deaths, and this number is expected to increase,” wrote governor Andy Beshear on
According to the police, the plane stopped about 5 km from the airport. Aerial images from local television showed, shortly after the accident, a large fire stretching for several hundred meters in an area of hangars and parking lots, with the flashing lights of rescue teams nearby. The plane had “three crew members on board,” UPS, whose aviation division headquarters is in Louisville, said in a separate statement.
“At this stage, we believe that the main area of concern involves two companies,” Beshear said. Investigators from the US Transportation Safety Agency (NTSB) are expected to arrive on site on Wednesday. Tuesday’s accident comes at a time when the consequences of the budget paralysis, due to a disagreement between Republicans and Democrats in Congress, are being felt particularly in the air transport sector. For several weeks, the shortage of air traffic controllers – who have been working without pay since October 1 – has been causing delays and cancellations of flights across the country. If the budget paralysis continues beyond this week, American airspace could even be partially closed, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned on Tuesday.