A UPS cargo plane crashed on Tuesday while attempting to take off from Louisville International Airport in Kentucky, killing at least 12 people. National Transportation Safety Board official Todd Inman said the aircraft caught fire in its left wing and lost an engine during takeoff, according to CBS News.
Officials confirmed that the crash resulted in multiple deaths, including a child at a nearby auto salvage yard. The McDonnell Douglas MD-11, built in 1991, had undergone maintenance from September 3 to October 18 in San Antonio, Texas. Authorities have not yet determined whether the maintenance was a factor in the crash. The incident also caused explosions at Kentucky Petroleum Recycling and damage to a local auto salvage yard, as reported by Click2Houston.
The Louisville airport reopened with one runway a day after the crash, while the condition of the three UPS crew members remained unknown, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said. National Transportation Safety Board investigator Inman stated that the plane’s black boxes were recovered and would help determine the cause. The aircraft, a modified MD-11 freighter now operated by Boeing, used General Electric CF6-80C2D1F engines that have been involved in previous incidents, including a 2016 American Airlines engine failure and the 1989 United Airlines Flight 232 crash. About 28 NTSB investigators were sent to examine the crash, and aviation attorney Pablo Rojas told CBS News, "Really, the plane itself is almost acting like a bomb because of the amount of fuel."
