A UPS cargo plane crashed in Kentucky and killed at least 12 people Tuesday.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A day after a UPS cargo plane caught fire, crashed and exploded in Kentucky, people are retelling their eyewitness accounts to the crash that killed at least 12, including a child, and left others missing.
Sobit Aliyev, co-owner of Kentucky Truck Parts & Service, said he fled his business as fire began closing in on him.
“It was like a hurricane with fire,” Aliyev said, describing the immediate aftermath of a UPS cargo plane crashing and exploding in Louisville, Kentucky on Tuesday. “We ran out. I was thinking, ‘last moments,’ so maybe we record it.”
His business was among others caught in the half a mile large debris field made by the crash.
Kyla Kenady, an employee at Stooges Bar & Grill, said she and customers fled the fireball as it approached. She says the impact of witnessing the crash will stick around.
“I feel like going back to work when we eventually get to, just hearing the planes pass over, will just be traumatizing,” she said. “The vision that I have is that plane, in air, above our volleyball courts. I have that in my head playing over and over.”
Aliyev echoes Kenady, saying the moment he closes his eyes, it feels like the “flames are in front of you.”
After being cleared for takeoff to Honolulu, Hawaii, a large fire developed in the left wing, said Todd Inman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation.
The plane gained enough altitude to clear the fence at the end of the runway before crashing just outside Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, Inman told reporters.
Airport security video “shows the left engine detaching from the wing during the takeoff roll,” he said.
“It shows you how life is very precious and short,” Kenady said.
The cockpit voice recorder and data recorder were recovered, and the engine was discovered on the airfield, Inman said.
Officials said the cause of the crash remains unclear. The FAA and NTSB are investigating with the help of other local and federal agencies.
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