By Isabella McHugh
Staff Writer
A UPS Plane crashed in Louisville, Kentucky on Nov. 4, claiming the lives of at least 12 individuals, according to NBC News.
Authorities are still searching for unaccounted individuals. On Nov. 5 the number of people they were searching for was 15, but has since dropped to nine, wrote NBC. The families of the victims await the news about their loved ones that haven’t been found.
“There’s so much charred, mangled metal, that not all the bodies may have been located until you look underneath certain things,” Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said according to NBC News.
Officials from the National Transportation and Safety Board travelled on Nov. 5. to the remains, according to CNN. They are now controlling and supervising the area. The trail of debris left from the catastrophe was half a mile long. While that may take some time to clean, the very first priority is rescuing and recovering the people who suffered from the crash.
Many suffered very significant injuries from the crash, officials say to BBC, which means the death toll is expected to rise.
Business owner of Grade A Auto Parts and Scrap Metal Recycling, Sean Garber said that four of his company’s 18 buildings were destroyed in the crash. He told NBC, “There was a huge ball of fire and massive multiple explosions occurring all around and obviously people running and screaming.”
In a news conference on Nov. 5, Rep. Morgan McGarvey described the event in Louisville as an “apocalyptic night,” according to CNN.
Mayor Greenberg said that the airport was reopened the next day so that planes could continue to fly, according to the BBC.
Investigators are looking into the cause of the crash. It carried 38,000 gallons of fuel at the time it crashed according to the BBC.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy dispelled rumours on Fox News stating that the accident “was not an air traffic controller issue,” NBC News reported. He added, “This appeared more mechanical. But we do have the flight and data recorders, those are in the process of being analyzed and will tell us what was happening on that aircraft.”
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear outlined that the plane wasn’t carrying any particularly dangerous cargo, but air quality played a role in the explosion. On site, there are always biohazards and chemical contaminations according to CNN.
CNN aviation analyst Mary Schiavo thinks it’s possible pieces of the engine could have flown to other parts of the plane and damaged it that way. Parts of the engine were blasted off and have yet to be recovered.
CNN safety analyst David Soucie said, “If this engine did indeed come off prematurely, as it appears it did, then you’re going to be looking for the engine mounts. You’re going to be looking at the bolts themselves. All of those pieces need to be recovered and brought back in.”
There is still significant work to be done from searching for missing people, repairing the crash’s damage and salvaging debris.
“You hear people say, ‘Oh you only see that in the movies.’ This was worse than the movies,” Greenberg said.
