🔗 Share this article

At least nine individuals lost their lives and 11 left injured after a UPS cargo plane crashed during departure from an international airport in Kentucky's largest city on Tuesday evening.

Aviation experts believe the plane crashed after one engine failed and another appeared to be damaged during take-off.

It is unclear why the aircraft failed, prompting a massive fireball to erupt after it failed to take-off from the airstrip. Footage showed fire had already engulfed a single wing of the plane while it was attempting to take off, potentially spreading across the aircraft and caused the explosion, or the plane might have ignited after colliding with ground-based obstacles.

What is apparent is that the 144,000 litres of jet fuel aboard the trijet aircraft required for the journey probably intensified the blaze, which rapidly extended to several buildings past the airstrip and burned for hours.

What initiated the incident?

The shipping giant uses Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport as a distribution hub for its worldwide network and its designated flight was at the start of a 4,300 mile journey to Hawaii's capital when the cargo plane initiated departure.

Tracking information from FlightRadar24 indicates the plane began to taxi along the 17R runway at around 5:15 PM local and attained a maximum velocity of 214mph.

However, confirmed videos shows that by the time the plane achieved this velocity a blaze had fully consumed its port side and the plane couldn't climb before the massive explosion.

Officials activated a shelter-in-place order to area inhabitants and dispatched hundreds of firefighters to the scene.

Governor Andy Beshear confirmed details seen in CCTV footage that shows the aircraft flying just metres off the ground before a intense light engulfed the plane. It is then seen slamming into the ground as a huge fireball ignites surrounding it about a minute into its journey.

Authenticated footage recorded by motorists on a nearby highway showed the flames erupting into the skyline while subsequent recordings showed smoke billowing from the scene.

Aerial images shown on regional news outlets showed wreckage scattering across the airstrip and landing on the roofs of multiple nearby establishments.

What could have caused the crash?

Air traffic control communications examined are largely garbled and full of interference so no meaningful conversation can be heard about the incident as it unfolded.

However, experts proposed that a dramatic failure of multiple engines may have been the cause of the tragedy.

The MD-11 transport plane employs three engines. Two are installed under the airfoils, and a third is positioned in the tail at the base of the vertical stabilizer.

Video verified showed a blaze engulfing the left wing of the aircraft, which then tilted to the left as it tried to achieve altitude and take-off.

Multiple specialists separately proposed the left engine may have detached from the plane after suffering from a mechanical or structural failure.

Additional photographs taken after the crash showed a burned powerplant resting on the grass next to the runway.

A retired airline pilot and aviation safety expert said that it was "extremely rare" for an powerplant to separate in flight.

He referenced the 1979 aviation disaster disaster, in which 273 people were fatally injured when the plane's engine detached as it departed from Chicago's major airport. Engine components had been damaged when it was installed on the aircraft, but the expert stated it was too early to say whether a comparable issue caused the powerplant separation on the MD-11.

The expert explained the cargo plane would have been able to fly with just two engines but the damage caused by the fire on the left wing was probably extensive enough it caused the plane's third engine to lose thrust.

"With such a catastrophic event we cannot determine what other damage was done when the powerplant separated," the expert commented.

Another aviation expert said the footage seemed to indicate the remaining powerplant had been compromised because it expelled a burst of smoke. The damage could have happened while it was pelted with debris from the fire and the powerplant separation.

"The tail-mounted powerplant that released smoke seems to shut down right after," the expert said. "This left just the starboard powerplant generating power, resulting in a severe power imbalance and leaving the aircraft unable to achieve altitude.

"Failing two powerplants during take-off results in only a fraction of its thrust and little chance of maintaining flight, particularly under full departure mass," the specialist continued.

Reasons for extensive destruction

Post-accident videos revealed a scene of complete chaos with multiple fires burning across a extensive area of the location and smoke billowing into the sky.

The aircraft, which was 34 years old and had been operated for passenger travel until 2006, had already completed one round trip from Louisville to the East Coast on the same day.

Authorities haven't verified which goods was on board the Hawaii-bound aircraft, though officials said the aircraft didn't contain anything that would create a heightened risk of environmental hazard.

"This was a long-haul cargo flight from Louisville to Honolulu, so the trijet was transporting a significant fuel quantity," a specialist commented. "The substantial fuel quantity not only diminished capability but also accounts for the massive explosion seen after the crash."

Authorities informed media that the plane was carrying 38,000 gallons of jet fuel for the extended trip when it crashed. The fire was probably intensified on the ground because the aircraft slammed into a fuel processing facility adjacent to the airfield.

The expert indicated authorities will concentrate on the origin of the blaze, and "if wreckage hit the centre engine, and if previous repairs on the left engine played a role." The expert continued: "Weather conditions were calm and clear, so environmental factors are unlikely."

The National Transportation Safety Board has sent a team to the location and will take charge of the investigation into the causes of the crash, though this can take up to two years to complete.