Investigators were preparing to do a “FOD walk” (foreign object debris) on the runway to document and collect all relevant evidence, Inman said.
He also said investigators were not aware of any staffing shortages at the airport due to the federal government shutdown.
The debris field outside Louisville International Airport after a UPS plane crashed during takeoff.Credit: WLKY-TV
The new information shared by the NTSB has echoes of the worst air disaster in U.S. history, when American Airlines Flight 191 crashed on takeoff from Chicago in 1979, killing all 271 passengers and crew on board.
That aircraft was a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, predecessor to the MD-11, and also caused the left engine to separate from the wing during takeoff, resulting in a loss of control. Investigators found that the engine had detached due to improper maintenance, causing the pylon structure to fail.
aviation diary Leeham News, however, warned against drawing early conclusionspointing out unconfirmed reports that MD-11’s departure was delayed two hours due to maintenance on the number 1 engine.
The publication cited a retired Boeing employee, whose duties during his career included safety, who suggested that a catastrophic, uncontrolled engine failure could have destroyed the hydraulic system and ignited the fuel.
This flight, UPS2976, was headed from the UPS world center in Louisville to Honolulu in Hawaii. It sank into warehouses belonging to two companies (an oil recycling facility and an auto parts warehouse), contributing to the massive fire.
About 200 firefighters and emergency personnel and 50 trucks were called in Tuesday to battle the fire, which filled the night sky with thick, black smoke.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said the number of confirmed deaths would likely increase by at least one, up to 10. “We hope it doesn’t increase by many more,” he said.
