By David Shepardson and Chris Thomas
(Reuters) -UPS said on Tuesday one of its wide-body cargo planes with three crew members on board crashed in Louisville, Kentucky, and video from local television channels showed the aircraft erupting in a massive fireball shortly after takeoff.
“UPS Flight 2976 crashed around 5:15 p.m. local time on Tuesday, Nov. 4, after departing from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Kentucky,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. The plane was en route to Honolulu, it said.
Television channel WLKY, a CBS affiliate, showed video footage of the crash as it occurred. The plane took off with fire on one wing, and a huge fireball erupted 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.
Louisville Metro Emergency Services said it had issued a shelter-in-place order for all locations within five miles (8 km) of the airport.
“There are multiple injuries and the fire is still burning. There are many road closures in the area – please avoid the scene,” Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said in a social media post shortly before 7 p.m. ET (0000 GMT).
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 program 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 flight from Louisville to Honolulu typically takes 8-1/2 hours, the flight tracking service said.
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.
UPS said it had yet to confirm any injuries or casualties due to the accident.
A National Transportation Safety Board 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.
The Louisville airport is home to UPS Worldport, a global hub for the delivery firm’s air cargo operations and its largest package handling facility in the world.
The Louisville airport said the airfield was closed after the incident. The crash will likely disrupt deliveries for UPS, and its major customers including Amazon, Walmart and the United States Postal Service. Walmart and Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
(Reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru, David Shepardson in Washington, Dan Catchpole in Seattle, Chris Thomas and Juby Babu in Mexico City and Steve Gorman and Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Jamie Freed)
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