Engine detached from UPS plane before fatal Louisville crash, explosion that killed 11: NTSB

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) held a press conference on Wednesday afternoon regarding the fatal UPS plane crash that occurred in Louisville on Tuesday afternoon. At least 11 people are dead and 15 others are injured as a result of the crash, authorities said.

NTSB Board Member Todd Inman stated that the plane was traveling from Louisville, Kentucky to Honolulu, Hawaii at the time of the crash. He said the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 plane manufactured in 1991 was cleared for takeoff on Runway 17R at the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport and that during takeoff roll, a "large plume of fire" was observed in the area of the left wing. There were three crew members on board.

The plane was able to gain enough altitude to clear the fence at the end of the runway, but shortly after, "it made impact with structures and the terrain off of the airport property." A massive fire ensued.

He said the NTSB has viewed CCTV footage from the airport showing "the left engine detaching from the wing during the takeoff roll." 

Inman said that investigators have located the plane’s cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder, commonly referred to as a black box. While the box suffered heat exposure from the fire, authorities "feel comfortable, once we get these to our lab in DC, that we will be able to get a good readout of the applicable data, and that will be yet another point of information that will really help us understand what happened during this point of flight."

He urged members of the public that if they see anything on their property that may be debris from the crash to contact the NTSB. He said that the debris field is half a mile long.