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The number of victims due to the freight aircraft which caught fire and plummeted has now reached 13, as confirmed by latest reports.

City Leader's Statement

While en route to the Workers’ vigil, I received word of a additional fatality that lost their life as a outcome of the UPS flight 2976 accident,” wrote the city mayor in a social media post. “My thoughts is with the loved ones, friends and co-workers of all who were killed in this recently occurred calamity. We will get through this as one.”

Casualties Identified

An announcement from UPS listed the pilots operating the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 as Captain Richard Wartenberg, Co-pilot Lee Truitt, and International Relief Officer Dana Diamond.

“Our sympathies are extended to every employee who has been touched and all in our Louisville region – supporting you and ensuring you get the support and aid you need is our priority,” the company’s message stated.

Probe Details

Federal authorities announced that the jet’s left wing caught fire and an motor separated soon after departure from the airfield, leading to the jet to crash and erupt into a inferno.

The NTSB stated it is probing the plane’s maintenance history, which was in the state for fixes a period prior to the accident.

Aircraft data revealed the jet was on the tarmac in San Antonio, Texas from the start of last month to 18 October.

“We are cognizant that this aircraft was present in that city,” stated an official on the following day, not giving a exact period. “We will review each aspect of repairs that was performed, even the repair period, straight to the date of the flight.”

Findings of Vital Items

The pilot’s recorder and flight data recorder were found, and the power plant was discovered on the runway.

The units – referred to as black boxes – were constructed to withstand collision damage and severe heat from fires, and they looked to be undamaged when found amid the remains. Officials intend to examining recordings from the black boxes.

Jet’s concluding recorded information indicated an height of 475 ft and a rate of 210 miles per hour prior to the crash.

Maintenance Background

Per Federal Aviation Administration documents dated last month, a fissure on a part within the tank area needed maintenance.

Singapore-based ST Engineering, which stated it offers aircraft servicing for UPS’s aircraft and runs a repair facility in that city, declined to provide remarks, but expressed it would work closely when officials approached it.

Services Continue

In the meantime, the hub services continued Wednesday night with its Next Day Air or night sort procedure, representative the company official said. Each of the three runways at the airport were also reopened.

The UPS package handling facility in the city is the firm’s biggest. The center employs in excess of twenty thousand people in the area, handles three hundred aircraft per day and sorts more than a huge volume of parcels per hour.

Public Reaction

A memorial was conducted on the late afternoon of that date by the local labor union, which supports workers at the Louisville airport, the company’s primary air cargo hub.

Worker representatives, which supports employees, commenced the memorial with a quiet tribute at the evening hour, the approximate moment of the crash before.

“This incident was so abrupt, so unexpected,” the official addressed the crowd of two hundred. “No one had a chance to part to any of those who we have lost.”