The total count of victims due to the transport jet that caught fire and crashed has now reached 13, as confirmed by latest announcements.
City Leader's Remarks
While en route to the Workers’ candlelight gathering, I was informed of a additional fatality that lost their life as a result of the UPS flight 2976 incident,” stated the municipal leader in a social media post. “My heart is with the loved ones, companions and co-workers of all who were lost in this recent tragedy. We will endure this collectively.”
Casualties Named
A release from UPS named the pilots operating the aircraft as Captain Richard Wartenberg, First Officer Lee Truitt, and Relief Captain Dana Diamond.
“Our hearts reach out to every UPSer who has been impacted and everyone in our Louisville community – assisting you and making sure you get the support and aid you need is our main concern,” the organization’s statement stated.
Inquiry Updates
National investigators announced that the UPS cargo plane’s port side wing caught fire and an motor fell off soon after departure from the Louisville Muhammad Ali international airport, causing the jet to crash and explode into a inferno.
The safety agency announced it is investigating the plane’s upkeep logs, that was in the state for maintenance several weeks before the incident.
Flight tracking data showed the jet was on the ground in San Antonio, Texas from early September to last week.
“We are cognizant that this jet was present in San Antonio,” remarked an official on Thursday, without a precise date range. “We will review every piece of maintenance that was done, from the Texas visit, right up to the date of the trip.”
Findings of Critical Items
The pilot’s recorder and flight data recorder were found, and the engine was located on the airfield.
The recorders – known as black boxes – were designed to survive accident forces and severe heat from infernos, and they looked to be intact when discovered amid the remains. Investigators intend to examining recordings from the black boxes.
The plane’s final recorded information displayed an altitude of 475 feet and a speed of that speed before the accident.
Maintenance Background
Based on aviation authority files dated that date, a fissure on a component inside the fuel container required maintenance.
Headquartered in Singapore ST Engineering, which indicated it offers aircraft servicing for UPS’s MD-11 and operates a repair facility in San Antonio, chose not to speak, but said it would assist completely when relevant authorities contacted it.
Services Continue
Meanwhile, the facility operations resumed that evening with its overnight or nighttime operation, official the company official said. The three runways at the aviation hub were additionally open again.
The distribution hub in the city is the company’s most significant. The center hires over twenty thousand people in the region, handles 300 trips per day and organizes more than four hundred thousand packages per hour.
Community Support
A candlelight vigil was held on the night of 6 November by the local Teamsters Union, which supports staff at the Louisville airport, the company’s largest air cargo hub.
Worker representatives, which represents employees, commenced the gathering with a period of reflection at 5.14pm, the approximate hour of the accident two days earlier.
“This event was so unexpected, so surprising,” the leader addressed the group of two hundred. “No one had a opportunity to bid farewell to each of those who we have lost.”
