(New York) A cargo plane crashed in Kentucky, killing all seven people on board, including all three crew members, and injuring 11 on the ground.
A three-engine wide-body freighter belonging to United Parcel Service (UPS) took off from Louisville International Airport in Kentucky at approximately 5:15 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday (November 4) (approximately 6:15 a.m. Singapore Time on November 5), bound for Honolulu, the capital of Hawaii, but crashed after climbing to an altitude of just over 50 meters.
Kentucky Governor Beshear said the accident resulted in at least seven deaths and 11 injuries, and the death toll could rise. "Anyone who witnessed the crash knows how horrific it was," he said.
Louisville International Airport is home to UPS's Worldport, a global hub for UPS's air cargo operations, and the company's largest global package processing center, handling over 300 flights and approximately 2 million packages daily.
According to records from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 aircraft had been in service for 34 years. Videos circulating on social media show the plane malfunctioning during takeoff, with one engine catching fire and subsequently exploding on the outer edge of the runway, creating a fireball. After the crash, a large area of the ground was engulfed in flames, and thick smoke billowed into the sky, clearly visible for kilometers.
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Aviation safety expert and pilot Cox pointed out that the accident investigation must determine why the aircraft was unable to continue flying on the remaining two engines after one of its engines caught fire.
