Federal investigators have successfully extracted data from the cockpit voice and flight data recorders of the United Parcel Service Inc. freighter that crashed in a fireball near the company’s global hub in Kentucky, killing at least 12 people.
The data from the recorders, commonly called “black boxes,” will allow investigators to piece together what happened in the final minutes as the doomed jet took off on the evening of November 4, bound for Honolulu, Hawaii.
“We consider this a good extraction with good data points, which means that we will have even more information to help paint a comprehensive picture,” National Transportation Safety Board official Todd Inman said in a briefing on the afternoon of November 6.
Three crew members aboard the aircraft are believed to be among the casualties, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said in a separate press conference on November 6. Captain Richard Wartenberg, First Officer Lee Truitt, and International Relief Officer Captain Dana Diamond were operating the flight, UPS said in a separate statement.
Nine people presumed to be in the area at the time of the crash are still unaccounted for, Greenberg said. Local officials are working on confirming the victims’ identities, he said.
The fuel-laden McDonnell Douglas MD-11, which lost its left engine during takeoff, climbed high enough to clear a fence at the end of the runway at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, but then plunged into terrain and buildings outside of the facility’s perimeter. Preliminary flight data shows that the UPS plane was last recorded at an altitude of 475 feet and traveling at a speed of 183 knots, Inman said.
The NTSB has recovered parts of the left-side engine from the runway, including fan blades, Inman said.
