A large UPS cargo plane crashed early Wednesday morning on approach to the airport in Birmingham, Alabama, killing the pilot and co-pilot, the latest in a series of aviation accidents in the United States this year.
“I can confirm they were killed in the crash,” Birmingham Mayor William Bell said of the pilot and co-pilot, who were not identified immediately. He added that there were no other casualties reported.
United Parcel Service Inc flight 1354, en route from Louisville, Kentucky, to Birmingham, crashed at about 5 a.m. CDT (1000 GMT), according to the FAA. The plane was identified as an Airbus A300.
A National Transportation Safety Board response team from Washington was expected to be on the scene in Birmingham by midday.
No distress calls were made to the airport tower, April Odom, a spokeswoman for Bell, said.
A fire in a sparsely populated area that broke out after the predawn crash was “under control” Bell said.
“It was quite a large fire and there were two to three explosions after the plane caught fire, after the crash itself,” Bell said.
A field of debris could be seen around the crash site in an area of Birmingham that had been a residential neighborhood. Many homes have been bulldozed to make room for an airport expansion.
“This incident is very unfortunate, and our thoughts and prayers are with those involved,” said Mitch Nichols, president of UPS Airlines. “We place the utmost value on the safety of our employees, our customers and the public.” UPS is the world’s largest package-delivery service.
‘WAS THAT A PLANE CRASH?’
Sandy McDaniel, 42, was on her shift at a nearby service station when she heard the blast.
“Firemen were in here getting coffee,” McDaniel said. “They jumped and said, ‘Was that a plane crash?’ and then it came on the radio. They ran out.”
The Airbus A300 is a wide-body jet widely used as a regional freighter by UPS, FedEx Corp and others.
Airbus said it was “assessing the situation.”
The model has been involved in about 10 crashes, the latest occurring last November, when the front landing gear on DHL-owned jet collapsed on landing in Bratislava, Slovakia. The model has been in service since 1974.
The Birmingham crash is the latest in a series of air accidents in the United States in recent months.
In July, an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 crashed while landing in San Francisco, killing three people and injuring more than 180.
Also last month, the front landing gear of a Southwest Airlines Co Boeing 737 jet collapsed on touchdown at New York City’s LaGuardia Airport, injuring eight.
In May, a U.S. Airways flight made a belly landing at Newark International Airport in New Jersey after its landing gear failed to deploy. No one was injured.
Boeing has struggled with mechanical problem on its new 787 Dreamliner aircraft. All of the aircraft were grounded for three months earlier this year after battery problems caused a fire in a parked Japan Airlines plane in Boston.
Last month after the 787s were cleared to return to service, another Japan Airlines Dreamliner turned back to Boston Logan International Airport after takeoff due to a mechanical indicator alert.
(Additional reporting by Chris Francescani, Tom Brown, Elena Berton, Patricia Kranz and Susan Heavey; Writing by Scott Malone; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Jeffrey Benkoe)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/14/us-crash-ups-urgent-idUSBRE97D0JW20130814
What’s up with all the airplane crashes and electrical transfer explosions anyway? Is it the sun?
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Ha, I bet, Cathleen that there are too many chiefs and not enough indians, 🙂 if ya know what I mean.
Cathleen, the wolf is in the meadow if you know what i mean! But joking aside did you listen to that interview with a woman named “Pattie” (do a you tube search) and she talked a lot about transformers been overloaded by microwave energy amongst other things , she also said that there is going to be a 15+ earthquake on the west coast between the 17/26 of August , to me if someone is full of it they usually say TSHTF in 6 months or so that way they make money form web sites etc , she said she is dyeing and does not give a fook now .So bring your tomato plants in on the 16th just to be sure
Her name is Pattie Bassard
15+ that’s enough shaking to throw you into orbit
Abitdodgie, I did see that video with Pattie. Hence, why I asked about the transformers. I don’t know what to think of her interview. Some of it didn’t sound right to me. Just a gut feeling. I just can’t wrap my head around a 15+ earthquake. Now the Indonesian Tsunami actually did move the planet off center a few degrees I read.
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A 15+ on the 17-26 huh? Well #1if thats the case it won’t do you much good to head my way because there won’t be anything here with a 15+.Something else to spread more fear amoung the sheeple.
Wouldn’t a 15+ quake pretty much throw the entire planet out of orbit, REDHORSE?
I thought that when planes crash they vaporize. You know like on 911.
Those were commercial planes, nottoobitter.
Different laws of physics than for cargo planes.