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Dozens of 911 calls for a “large explosion” and “lots of black smoke” flooded emergency radio channels in the moments after the UPS cargo plane tore through an industrial park in Kentucky according to new audio from the tragedy, which unfolded just yards away from shocked happy hour goers.
Airport personnel were among the first to hit the airwaves Tuesday, telling other UPS pilots to halt their takeoff procedures because “the airfield is closed,” according to radio communication obtained by the Herald-Leader.
A voice on the Louisville Fire Department dispatch channel closely followed: “Be advised, there has been a large explosion off Fern Valley Road by the airport — lots of black smoke.”
Fire engines arrived at the scene just two minutes later, with crews jumping on the radio to reveal 911 calls reporting a plane crash were pouring in. Within three minutes, responding units determined the disaster was large enough to call in mutual aid from far-reaching jurisdictions.
“Be advised, UPS employees are stating that they believe this is one of their airplanes that went down,” a voice warns.
At 5:20 p.m. — seven minutes after the fireball engulfed several buildings near the airfield — the radio waves were filled with police and fire officials communicating over the disaster.
The calls for assistance reached such a fever pitch that a dispatcher at one point used the airwaves to determine whether “multiple calls for service for smoke in the area” should still be answered individually or en masse, the Herald-Leader reported.
“Get a total for now, radio,” one fire chief responded.
An early responder from the MetroSafe Suburban Fire Department reported coming across a building with a sign reading “Kentucky Petroleum” as it, and several others, were engulfed in flames.
Kentucky Petroleum Recycling and Grade A Auto Parts, both located south of the UPS Worldport facility on the airport grounds, were later confirmed to have suffered direct hits by the plane — and the hazardous aerosolized chemicals inside’s proximity to the flames led officials to cordon off a massive swath of the area and shelter-in-place residents in areas across the Ohio River into southern Indiana.
Approximately 200 first responders were at the scene of the deadly crash that killed 14 people.
Three of the dead were pilots on the Honolulu-bound MD-11, which apparently lost its engine just moments after takeoff.
The horrifying tragedy unfolded in front of dozens of happy hour goers at the nearby Stooges Bar & Grill, a popular spot among workers from the UPS package handling facility and the Ford SUV assembly plant.
“This plane barely missed a restaurant/bar,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear told CNN.
“It was very close to a very large Ford plant with hundreds, if not a thousand-plus workers.”
According to the Stooges’ owner, the plane came within just 100 yards of the busy watering hole.
“It was close. They said, ‘We don’t know how you made it,’” said Debbie Self, who wasn’t at the bar at the time of the crash.
Bartender Kyla Kenady said the plane appeared to fly right over the volleyball courts in the parking lot.
“I turned around, ran down the bar and screamed to everyone that a plane was crashing, grabbed my things, grabbed my phone, my purse, ran out the door as everyone, in panic, ran out at the same time,” she told CNN, adding that she felt the ground shaking and felt a rush of heated air as she ran to her car and fled.
Stooges regular Bryson Beck said the black smoke was so thick he “thought that maybe a country was bombing us.”
Stooges was one of the few buildings in the industrial park to survive the horror, but it is indefinitely shut down — its parking lot, usually used as a venue for wrestling matches and volleyball games, is now a temporary morgue.
Fourteen people were killed in the tragedy, though only the three UPS crew members have been identified, officials said. Nine members of the community have been reported missing, with several sets of remains too charred to identify.
English (US)