What could have caused UPS cargo plane crash in Kentucky

At least 12 people were killed and more than a dozen others were injured after a UPS cargo plane crashed while taking off from an airport in Louisville, Kentucky, on Tuesday evening.

Aviation experts who spoke to BBC Verify believe the plane crashed after one engine failed and another engine was damaged during takeoff.

It is not yet clear why the plane crashed, resulting in a huge fireball after it failed to take off from the runway. The footage showed that flames had already engulfed one of the plane’s wings as it attempted to take off, which may have spread across the plane and caused the explosion, or the plane may have caught fire after colliding with an object on the ground.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is investigating the accident, said it had obtained footage from airport surveillance cameras showing the plane’s left engine falling off the wing during takeoff.

The agency also recovered the cockpit flight recorder and flight data recorder, known as the black box, from the wreckage, NTSB’s Todd Inman said.

What is also clear is that the 38,000 gallons (144,000 liters) of fuel on board the MD-11 needed for the flight likely exacerbated the fire, which quickly spread to several buildings outside the runway and burned for hours.

BBC Verify analyzed footage that emerged overnight to piece together how the incident occurred.

UPS uses Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport as a distribution center for its global operations and its Flight 2976 was at the start of a 4,300-mile flight to Honolulu, Hawaii, when the cargo plane attempted to take off.

Data from tracking website FlightRadar24 shows that the plane began moving along runway 17R at around 17:15 local time (22:15 GMT) and was able to reach a top speed of 214 mph (344 km/h).

But verified footage shows that by the time the plane reached that speed, the fire had engulfed its entire left wing and the plane was struggling to clear the runway before exploding.

The plane’s engine caught fire as it was making a takeoff and then separated from the wing, the NTSB said. The plane was able to climb to an altitude of 175 feet and cleared the fence at the end of the runway before veering into buildings and businesses surrounding the airport.

Officials ordered local residents to stay put, and sent hundreds of firefighters to the scene.

Governor Andy Beshear confirmed details seen in surveillance footage showing the plane flying just a few meters off the ground before a bright flash engulfed the plane. He is then seen hitting the ground as a huge fireball erupts around him about a minute into his flight.

Verified video captured by motorists on a nearby highway showed flames erupting on the horizon while later videos showed smoke rising from the scene.

Aerial photos broadcast by local media showed debris falling onto the runway and landing on the roofs of at least two local companies.

Air traffic control communications reviewed by BBC Verify are highly distorted and full of interference, so no meaningful conversation about the incident can be heard while it is happening.

But analysts who spoke to BBC Verify suggested that a major failure in two engines may have been responsible for the disaster.

The MD-11 transport aircraft uses three engines. Two are mounted under the wings, and the third is integrated into the tail at the base of the vertical stabilizer.

Footage confirmed by BBC Verify showed a fire engulfing the plane’s left wing, which then tilted to the left as it attempted to climb and take off.

Two experts independently indicated that the left engine may have separated from the plane after suffering a mechanical or structural failure. The NTSB later confirmed that the left engine separated from the plane’s wing during takeoff.

Separate photos taken after the accident showed a charred engine sitting on the grass next to the runway at Louisville International Airport.

Terry Tozer, a retired pilot and aviation safety expert, told the BBC that it was “almost unheard of” for an engine to separate during flight.

He pointed to the 1979 disaster of American Airlines Flight 191, in which 273 people were killed after the plane’s engine separated during takeoff at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. Parts of the engine were damaged when they were replaced on board, but Tozer said it was too early to say whether a similar fault might have caused the MD-11’s engine to separate.

The cargo plane was able to fly with only two engines, but damage from the fire on the left wing was likely so great that it caused the plane’s engine built into the tail to lose thrust, Tozer said.

“With such a catastrophic event, we cannot know what other damage occurred when the engine went off course,” he added.

Marco Chan, a senior lecturer in aviation operations at Buckinghamshire New University, said the footage appeared to show the third engine had been damaged as it expelled a stream of smoke. The damage could have occurred while it was hit with debris from the fire and the engine was disconnected.

“It appears that the upper engine that released a puff of smoke stopped working immediately afterward,” Chan said. “This left only the right engine producing thrust, creating a severe power imbalance and leaving the aircraft unable to gain altitude.

“Losing two engines during takeoff leaves the plane with only a third of its power and little chance of sustaining flight, especially at maximum takeoff weight,” Chan added.

Footage from the aftermath of the incident showed a scene of complete chaos with multiple fires burning across a large area of ​​the site and smoke billowing into the sky.

The plane, which was 34 years old and was used as a passenger plane until 2006, had already completed one return flight from Louisville on Tuesday to Baltimore in Maryland.

It has not been confirmed what type of cargo was on the flight to Hawaii, although officials said the plane was not carrying anything that would increase the risk of contamination.

“This was a long-haul cargo flight from Louisville to Honolulu, so the MD-11 was carrying a lot of jet fuel,” Chan said. “This heavy fuel load not only reduced performance, but also explains the large fireball seen after the accident.”

Officials told reporters that the plane was carrying 38,000 gallons (144,000 liters) of fuel for the long flight when it crashed. It is possible that the fire spread on the ground because the plane collided with a fuel recycling plant next to the airport.

Investigators will now focus on how the initial fire started, “whether debris struck the center engine, and whether previous maintenance on the left engine played a role,” Chan said. He added: “The weather conditions were calm and clear, so environmental factors are unlikely.”

The National Transportation Safety Board (NSTB) sent a team to the site and will now lead the investigation into the causes of the accident, although this could take up to two years to complete.

Additional reporting by Emma Pengelly, Cailin Devlin and Paul Brown.