UPS plane crashes and explodes at a Kentucky airport, leaving at least 9 dead and others missing

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — First responders are searching for more victims Wednesday after a UPS cargo plane crashed and exploded in a massive fireball at the company’s global aviation hub in Kentucky, killing at least nine people and injuring 11, authorities said.

The plane crashed about 5:15 p.m. Tuesday as it was departing for Honolulu from UPS Worldport at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Louisville.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear posted online Wednesday morning that 16 families who gathered at a reunification center “have reported loved ones unaccounted for.”

The airport is 7 miles (11.2 kilometers) from downtown Louisville, close to the Indiana state line, residential areas, a water park and museums. Emergency officials initially put out a shelter-in-place order for a 5-mile (8-kilometer) radius. By Wednesday morning, that was reduced to a quarter of a mile (400-meter) radius, as officials monitored the air quality,

Over 200 emergency workers responded to the crash Tuesday night and the city will continue to use all available resources, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg told WLKY-TV on Wednesday morning.

Video showed flames on the plane’s left wing and a trail of smoke. The plane then lifted slightly off the ground before crashing and exploding in flames. Video showed portions of a building’s shredded roof next to the end of the runway.

Beshear said a business, Kentucky Petroleum Recycling, appeared to be “hit pretty directly,” and a nearby auto parts operation was also affected. He said the crash narrowly missed a restaurant bar, a Ford plant, and the city’s convention center that was hosting a livestock show.

He said he didn’t know the status of the three crew members aboard the plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 made in 1991. It wasn’t immediately clear if they were being counted among the dead.

‘We all know somebody who works at UPS’

Beshear said he expects the death toll to increase. Eleven people were also hurt. Beshear said two of the injured are in critical care.

“Anybody who has seen the images, the video, knows how violent this crash is,” he said.

The Louisville package handling facility is the company’s largest. UPS announced late Tuesday that package sorting at the center was halted, and the company told workers to not show up Wednesday, too.

The hub employs thousands of workers, handles 300 flights daily and sorts more than 400,000 packages an hour.

“We all know somebody who works at UPS,” Louisville Metro Council member Betsy Ruhe said. “And they’re all texting their friends, their family, trying to make sure everyone is safe. Sadly, some of those texts are probably going to go unanswered.”

Hoping for information about missing loved ones

Eric Richardson stood outside a police training academy, where people gathered waiting for word of their missing loved ones Tuesday night. He said was hoping for information about his girlfriend, who had been at a metal recycling business near the explosion and wasn’t answering her phone. Her phone’s live location said she was still there.

Bobby Whelan, Richardson’s friend, had been in front of her in line, but had left minutes before the explosion. He said he was about a quarter of a mile down the road when he heard what sounded like a bomb exploding.

“We don’t even want to think about anything but the best,” Whelan said. “All our friends were there.”

Tom Brooks Jr., who runs a metal recycling business down the street, said the unbelievable magnitude of the crash “just rocked the whole place.”

“This was massive. I mean, it literally looked like a war zone,” he said.

Destyn Mitchell was working as a host at an Outback restaurant, about a 15-minute drive from the crash, when she heard a loud boom.

“People who just sat down to eat got up and left in under 30 minutes and packed up their food because they wanted to hurry up and get home,” she said.

What happened to the plane?

Pablo Rojas, an aviation attorney, said that based on videos of the crash the aircraft appeared to be struggling to gain altitude as a fire blazed on its left side around one of its engines. Given the fuel the plane was carrying, it was only a matter of time before the blaze spread rapidly or an explosion happened.

“Really the plane itself is almost acting like a bomb because of the amount of fuel,” he said.

Greenberg said the National Transportation Safety Board has sent a 28-strong crew to investigate the crash.

The airport, which also shut down for the night, resumed operations Wednesday morning, with at least one runway open. Flights that were canceled Tuesday were scheduled to depart and arrive first. Some flights previously scheduled to take off from the airport Wednesday morning were canceled.

Some stranded passengers spent the night in the airport, and nearby roads remained closed Wednesday morning. A public school district in Louisville canceled classes and activities for the day.

Golden reported from Seattle. AP reporters Ed White in Detroit, John Raby in Cross Lanes, West Virginia, Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee, and Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this report.