(Washington) A cargo plane crashed Tuesday in a ball of fire shortly after takeoff from Louisville, in the east-central United States, killing at least three people and injuring 11 others according to the governor of Kentucky.
“We believe there are at least three deaths. I fear this figure is no longer significant. There are also at least 11 injured, some of whom are seriously injured,” Andy Beshear said at a news conference.
UPS Flight 2976, which was due to reach Hawaii, “crashed around 5:15 p.m. local time” said the US aviation regulator, the FAA, identifying the aircraft as a McDonnell Douglas MD-11.
The plane had “three crew members on board,” said in a separate statement the carrier UPS, whose airline division headquarters are located in Louisville.
The governor added that he had no information regarding the three people on board the plane but that based on the videos released, “I think we are all very, very worried about them. »
An amateur video shared by local channel WLKY shows the plane’s left engine on fire while the plane skims the ground while trying to take off, before visibly exploding, causing a large plume of black smoke.
Aerial images from local television also showed, shortly after the crash, a large blaze stretching several hundred meters long in an area of hangars and parking lots, with the flashing lights of rescue teams nearby.
“At this point, we believe the main affected area is two businesses,” Andy Beshear said.
Budget paralysis
The American Transportation Safety Agency (NTSB) and the FAA “are mobilizing to arrive on site and will conduct the investigation,” wrote Sean Duffy, the Secretary of Transport, on X.
Tuesday’s accident comes at a time when the consequences of the budgetary paralysis, due to a disagreement between Republicans and Democrats in Congress, are being particularly felt in the field of air transport.
For several weeks, there have been shortages of air traffic controllers – who have been working since 1er October without being paid – leading to delays and cancellations of flights across the country.
If the budgetary paralysis continues beyond this week, American airspace could even be partially closed, Sean Duffy warned on Tuesday.
UPS Airlines, the airline division of the American courier and package delivery group, was operating a fleet of around 500 cargo planes at the beginning of September, including 27 MD-11s, the aircraft involved in Tuesday’s accident.
The last major air accident in the United States occurred on January 29 near Ronald Reagan Airport in Washington, when a military helicopter collided with an airliner about to land, killing 67 people in total.
