The search for victims continued Wednesday after the fiery crash of a UPS wide-body cargo plane at the Louisville, Kentucky, airport on Tuesday afternoon, with nine confirmed dead so far and operations disrupted at the shipping company’s global air hub.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said the number of fatalities could rise as families have reported relatives missing.
Beshear said more than 200 first responders initially responded to the crash, with significant resources for search and rescue and “ultimately what is probably by now the recovery effort.”
UPS Flight 2976 crashed around 5:15 p.m. Tuesday after taking off from Louisville bound for Honolulu, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
In addition to fatalities, Louisville airport authorities on Tuesday evening also reported at least 11 people injured.
The crash caused severe disruptions to UPS’ operations at its main air hub in Louisville, causing it to cancel multiple operations on Tuesday evening and Wednesday, telling those employees not to report to work.
That, in turn, is likely to disrupt UPS shipments around the country.
Louisville is UPS’ global air hub, known as the Worldport, and operations for the company also continue to be hampered, including “Next Day Air” operations.
Sandy Springs-based UPS in a statement Tuesday said it was “terribly saddened” by the accident. “Our heartfelt thoughts are with everyone involved.”
Officials opened a reunification center Tuesday night in Louisville for people to report missing loved ones from the site of the crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash, with a “go team” that landed in Louisville on Wednesday.
The NTSB has a team of 28 people on the ground there, said U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey, D-Kentucky, during comments at a news conference. “They are going to analyze absolutely every bit of what happened. We’re talking about everything that is man-made, that is machine-made, that is environmental.”
The aircraft was loaded with fuel for a long-haul flight to Hawaii to prepare for takeoff from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. McGarvey said when the plane crashed, “that fuel spread everywhere. I had someone tell me it looked like it was raining oil in Louisville.”
“Louisville looked apocalyptic” Tuesday night, McGarvey said. “The images of smoke coming over our city ... people trapped in their homes (during a shelter-in-place order). Families who lost someone who won’t be coming home.”
Late Wednesday morning, Beshear declared a state of emergency in Kentucky in response to the plane crash, saying that would allow resources to move quickly through emergency management and the Kentucky National Guard. He said it would also allow the use of state resources by agencies.
“It’s going to help make sure that groups that are already limited in terms of their funding can get some immediate or short-term help as they wait for reimbursement for the costs they’ve expended,” Beshear said during a news conference.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The plane was a McDonnell Douglas MD-11, a wide-body cargo jet with more than 250,000 pounds of jet fuel on board, according to Louisville fire Chief Brian O’Neill.
Aerial video from CBS News appeared to show some buildings and parking lots on fire near the airport, and Beshear said two businesses affected were Kentucky Petroleum Recycling and Grade A Auto Parts.
When asked during a news conference about the condition of the plane’s fuselage, Chief Mark Little of the Okolona Fire Protection District in Jefferson County, Kentucky, indicated much of had burned up in the fire. The wreckage is spread along a long stretch, “so there are landing gear that’s out there. You would not see a whole fuselage with the intense fire that was there. Most of things are gone ... including the some of the vehicles, the semis and the plane.”
Officials issued a shelter in place order Tuesday evening, with the area under the order narrowed to a quarter-mile radius by Wednesday morning.
UPS operations challenged
Louisville’s airport suspended flights Tuesday evening and UPS said it also halted its overnight operations there and canceled its “Next Day Air” parcel sort. On Wednesday morning, UPS said it would also cancel its “Second Day Air” sort for the day at its Louisville hub, saying employees on the Second Day Air sort should not report to work.
The airport has reopened one runway, though airport officials said there were some flight delays and cancellations Wednesday. About 16 Louisville flights were canceled by midday Wednesday.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
UPS posted a service alert on its website saying scheduled delivery times for air and international packages might be affected by the plane crash.
“Contingency plans are in place to help ensure that shipments arrive at their final destinations as quickly as conditions permit,” UPS posted.
Louisville’s mayor announced Tuesday evening the city lit a prominent pedestrian bridge near its downtown in yellow to honor the flight.
Beshear announced Wednesday the establishment of a Team Kentucky Emergency Relief Fund, with donations going to help pay for funerals, response, recovery and rebuilding.
“This is a UPS town,“ Louisville City Councilwoman Betsy Ruhe said Tuesday.
UPS’ Worldport global package handling facility in Louisville has about 20,000 employees and 300 daily flights. The operation sorts more than 400,000 packages an hour.
Worldport is also home to the company’s cargo airline, which has about 3,300 pilots and operates more than 500 aircraft.
“Everybody here knows everybody. We’re the biggest small city in America,” McGarvey said. “And if you don’t know someone impacted by this, you know someone who does.”
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