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The number of victims from the UPS cargo plane which ignited and plummeted has now climbed to 13, per latest statements.

City Leader's Announcement

While en route to the Workers’ candlelight gathering, I learned of a 13th person that passed away as a result of the aircraft incident,” wrote the local official in a social media post. “My thoughts is with the families, companions and peers of all who were killed in this recently occurred calamity. We will endure this collectively.”

Deceased Named

A statement from UPS identified the pilots operating the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 as Pilot Richard Wartenberg, Co-pilot Lee Truitt, and Relief Captain Dana Diamond.

“Our sympathies reach out to all staff member who has been touched and everyone in our community community – supporting you and making sure you get the support and assistance you need is our main concern,” the firm’s message read.

Inquiry Updates

Government authorities revealed that the freight aircraft’s left wing caught fire and an power plant fell off shortly after liftoff from the airfield, resulting in the plane to fall and explode into a inferno.

The National Transportation Safety Board announced it is examining the plane’s maintenance history, which was in Texas for fixes several weeks prior to the incident.

Flight tracking information indicated the jet was on the ground in that location from 3 September to last week.

“We are cognizant that this jet was there in the facility,” remarked an official on Thursday, not giving a specific period. “We will examine every piece of repairs that was performed, from the repair time, right up to the time of the trip.”

Retrieval of Key Items

The pilot’s recorder and data recorder were retrieved, and the power plant was discovered on the airfield.

The devices – called flight recorders – were constructed to survive accident forces and intense fire from infernos, and they appeared to be intact when located within the remains. Authorities plan on examining data from the devices.

Aircraft’s last flight details showed an altitude of 475 ft and a rate of that speed prior to the crash.

Service Record

Per Federal Aviation Administration records dated that date, a fracture on a structural piece within the center wing fuel tank needed fixes.

Headquartered in Singapore ST Engineering, which stated it supplies aircraft servicing for UPS’s aircraft and manages a service location in that city, declined to comment, but stated it would work closely when officials contacted it.

Services Continue

Meanwhile, the facility operations continued Wednesday night with its overnight also known as night sort procedure, representative the company official said. Each of the three landing strips at the aviation hub were also reopened.

The UPS package handling facility in the city is the organization’s largest. The hub employs over twenty thousand people in the locality, processes three hundred aircraft each day and processes in excess of a huge volume of packages per hour.

Public Reaction

A memorial was held on the late afternoon of recently by the local worker’s group, which acts for workers at the Louisville airport, the company’s biggest shipping facility.

Teamsters Local 89, which stands for staff, began the vigil with a moment of silence at that time, the estimated moment of the incident two days earlier.

“This incident was so abrupt, so unforeseen,” the mayor spoke to the crowd of 200. “No one had a chance to say goodbye to any one of those who we have said farewell to.”