ATLANTA — UPS has released the names of the three people killed when one of its cargo planes caught fire and crashed at Louisville’s airport on Tuesday.
In a statement, the company identified the three on board the plane as Captain Richard Wartenberg, First Officer Lee Truitt, and International Relief Officer Captain Dana Diamond.
“Words can’t express the sorrow we feel over the heartbreaking Flight 2976 accident,” the company said. “Our hearts go out to every UPSer who has been impacted and all in our Louisville community – supporting you and ensuring you receive the care and resources you need is our priority.”
Videos from phones, cars, and security cameras captured the tragic final moments as the plane caught fire.
So far, at least 13 people have died from the crash.
The videos provide investigators and the public with many different angles of the plane going down on Tuesday in an area dotted with scrap yards and UPS facilities. No one expects to find survivors.
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The plane had been cleared for takeoff from UPS Worldport, the company’s global aviation hub, when a large fire developed in the left wing and an engine fell off, said Todd Inman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation.
One video of the crash taken by a vehicle’s dashcam shows flames and smoke trailing from the wing as the jet barely clears a road, clips a building, and vanishes behind an eruption of black smoke.
Another video from a business security camera captures the deafening sound of the plane’s impact and a wall of fire and black smoke. As the flames grow, a smaller blast ripples through the wreckage as sirens begin to echo in the distance.
The blaze stretched nearly a city block and destroyed much of the plane’s fuselage, fire officials have said.
In yet another recording, the UPS plane can be seen lifting off the runway already on fire, then disappearing seconds later in an orange fireball.
From a nearby street, a driver filmed the explosion and thick black smoke above nearby buildings. The smoke fills the sky as the vehicle backs away. Other videos from the street show a pillar of black smoke towering over buildings and traffic in the area as sirens echo and lights from emergency vehicles flash.
The recordings of the crash have deepened the shock and grief among other UPS pilots, said Independent Pilots Association President Robert Travis. The union represents 3,500 pilots who fly for UPS.
“We’re just all heartbroken,” he said. “This is a tragedy that is even highlighted further by the video that’s out there circulating around the world due to the catastrophic, violent nature of the accident itself.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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