Child among the 12 killed in UPS plane crash in Kentucky

A UPS payload plane's left offstage wing caught discharge and an engine cut down off just before it crashed and exploded after takeoff in Kentucky, a federal investigator said Wednesday, offering the first official details about a disaster that killed at least 12 people, including a child.

First responders, meanwhile, searched for more victims, a day after the crash at UPS Worldport, the company's global aviation hub in Louisville, though Gov. Andy Beshear said finding survivors seemed unlikely. The inferno consumed the enormous aircraft and spread to nearby businesses.

After being cleared for takeoff, a large fire developed in the left wing, said Todd Inman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation.

The plane gained enough altitude to clear the fence at the end of the runway before crashing just outside Muhammad Ali International Airport, Inman told reporters.

Airport security video "shows the left engine detaching from the wing during the takeoff roll," he said.

The cockpit voice recorder and data recorder were recovered, and the engine was discovered on the airfield, Inman said.

"There are a lot of different parts of this airplane in a lot of different places," he said, describing a debris field that stretched for half a mile.

The plane with three people aboard crashed about 5:15 p.m. Local time Tuesday as it was departing for Honolulu.

The crash had a devastating ripple effect, striking and causing smaller explosions at Kentucky Petroleum Recycling and hitting an auto salvage yard, Grade A Auto Parts. Beshear said the child who died was with a parent at the parts business.

Earlier Wednesday, he posted online that 16 families who gathered at a reunification centre "have reported loved ones unaccounted for," but he later broke the news that the death toll had gone up.

The tough news continues today as the death toll in Louisville has now risen to at least 11, and I expect it to be 12 by end of the day. Even harder news is that we believe one of those lost was a young child. 1/2

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

U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey praised firefighters who rushed headfirst to the disaster scene, describing it as "hotter than hell and raining down oil."

"I don't know how many victims we're actually looking for," said Mark Little, chief of the Okolona Fire District in Louisville. "That's one of the issues, and the debris zone is so large. Some of that debris is going to have to be moved and searched underneath. It will take us quite awhile."

University of Louisville Hospital said two people were in critical condition in the burn unit Wednesday. Eighteen people were treated and discharged at that hospital or other health-care centers.

UPS plane crashes at Kentucky airport

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

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. My heart goes out to those families and those friends."

The airport is about 10 kilometres from downtown Louisville, close to the Indiana state line, residential areas, a water park and museums. The airport resumed operations on Wednesday, with at least one runway open.

A video taken Tuesday by Leirim Rodríguez shows several massive balls of flames exploding into the sky in a row, followed by large billowing clouds of black smoke. Rodriguez told The Associated Press she and her husband just happened to be in the area at the time of the explosion.

Tom Brooks Jr., who runs a metal recycling business down the street, said the crash "just rocked the whole place."

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

Destyn Mitchell said she was working as a host at an Outback restaurant, about a 15-minute drive from the crash, when she heard a "very loud boom." About 20 people were in the restaurant.

"The mood in the restaurant was very shaken up," Mitchell said. "Everyone is really concerned. 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."

The governor said the Team Kentucky Emergency Relief Fund, typically used to help people in natural disasters, is accepting donations to help with funeral expenses and other hardships.

"In Kentucky, we grieve together and we support one another," Beshear said.

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.

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