The number of victims due to the UPS cargo plane which caught fire and went down has now risen to 13, as confirmed by official reports.
Mayor's Remarks
Traveling to the Union’s vigil, I received word of a thirteenth victim that died as a outcome of the plane crash,” wrote the local official in a public communication. “My thoughts are with the loved ones, associates and colleagues of all who were killed in this recently occurred tragedy. We will endure this as one.”
Victims Identified
An announcement from UPS listed the officers aboard the jet as Pilot Richard Wartenberg, First Officer Lee Truitt, and International Relief Officer Dana Diamond.
“Our sympathies go out to every staff member who has been impacted and all in our Louisville region – helping you and making sure you get the attention and resources you need is our main concern,” the company’s statement read.
Investigation Details
Federal authorities announced that the jet’s wing caught fire and an engine detached soon after takeoff from the Louisville Muhammad Ali international airport, resulting in the jet to fall and explode into a fireball.
The National Transportation Safety Board stated it is examining the plane’s maintenance history, which was in Texas for repairs several weeks ahead of the incident.
Aviation records indicated the aircraft was on the tarmac in that location from early September to mid-October.
“We are aware that this aircraft was located in that city,” said an NTSB member on Thursday, not giving a specific date range. “We will examine every piece of maintenance that was performed, even the San Antonio time, right up to the time of the flight.”
Findings of Critical Items
The cockpit voice recorder and data recorder were retrieved, and the power plant was found on the airfield.
The units – known as black boxes – were constructed to endure accident forces and intense temperatures from fires, and they looked to be intact when found within the wreckage. Investigators will analyzing data from the black boxes.
Jet’s last flight details indicated an altitude of 475 feet and a speed of that speed prior to the accident.
Service Background
Per Federal Aviation Administration documents from last month, a fissure on a part inside the fuel container required repairs.
The company ST Engineering, which indicated it offers airframe maintenance for UPS’s MD-11 and manages a repair facility in that city, refused to provide remarks, but stated it would work closely when investigators approached it.
Activities Resume
In the meantime, UPS Worldport operations restarted last night with its express or nighttime procedure, official a representative said. Each of the three landing strips at the aviation hub were also back in operation.
The sorting center in the city is the firm’s largest. The center engages in excess of twenty thousand people in the locality, manages three hundred aircraft daily and sorts over four hundred thousand packages an hour.
Local Response
A memorial was organized on the evening of recently by the local worker’s group, which acts for workers at the aviation hub, the organization’s primary air cargo hub.
The union chapter, which supports UPS workers, began the gathering with a quiet tribute at 5.14pm, the estimated hour of the crash two days earlier.
“This incident was so sudden, so unforeseen,” the leader spoke to the group of attendees. “No one had a moment to bid farewell to any of those who we have mourned.”
