🔗 Share this article

No fewer than nine individuals have died and 11 others were hurt following a freight aircraft crashed while taking off from a major air hub in Louisville, Kentucky on Tuesday evening.

Aircraft specialists believe the plane crashed due to a single engine malfunctioned and a second seemed compromised during take-off.

It is unclear what caused the plane to crash, leading to a huge explosion to erupt after it couldn't become airborne from the runway. Video evidence showed fire had already engulfed a single wing of the plane while it was attempting to take off, which may have spread across the aircraft and triggered the blast, or the plane might have ignited after colliding with ground-based obstacles.

What's clear is that the 38,000 gallons of fuel aboard the trijet aircraft required for the journey probably intensified the fire, which quickly spread to several buildings beyond the runway and continued burning for hours.

What initiated the incident?

The shipping giant uses Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport as a distribution hub for its worldwide network and its designated flight was beginning of a 4,300 mile journey to Honolulu in Hawaii when the freight aircraft initiated departure.

Tracking information from flight monitoring services shows the plane started moving along the designated runway at around 5:15 PM local and managed to reach a top speed of 214mph.

But verified footage shows that by the time the plane reached this speed a fire had completely engulfed its port side and the aircraft failed to gain altitude before the massive explosion.

Authorities activated a local safety directive to area inhabitants and dispatched hundreds of firefighters to the scene.

The state's governor verified details seen in CCTV footage that depict the plane traveling just feet above the surface before a intense light engulfed the plane. It is then seen slamming into the terrain as a massive fire explosion ignites surrounding it about a minute into its journey.

Authenticated footage recorded by motorists on a nearby highway displayed the fire rising into the air while subsequent recordings showed smoke pouring from the area.

Overhead photographs shown on local media depicted debris showering the runway and falling onto the roofs of multiple nearby establishments.

Potential causes of the accident

Air traffic control communications reviewed are mostly unclear and filled with static so no clear dialogue can be heard about the incident as it developed.

But analysts proposed that a catastrophic malfunction of multiple engines may have been responsible for the disaster.

The MD-11 transport plane uses three powerplants. Two are installed under the wings, and a third is positioned in the tail at the base of the vertical stabilizer.

Footage confirmed revealed a fire consuming the left wing of the aircraft, which then leaned leftward as it tried to achieve altitude and become airborne.

Two experts separately proposed the portside engine may have detached from the plane after suffering from a technical or physical breakdown.

Separate images captured post-accident showed a burned powerplant sitting on the grass adjacent to the airstrip.

A retired airline pilot and aircraft safety specialist said that it was "almost unheard of" for an engine to detach in flight.

The expert recalled the 1979 American Airlines Flight 191 disaster, in which 273 people were fatally injured after the plane's engine detached as it took off from O'Hare International Airport. Parts of the engine had been damaged when it was installed on the aircraft, but the specialist said it was premature to determine whether a similar fault led to the engine to detach on the MD-11.

The specialist explained the cargo plane would have been able to fly with just two engines but the damage resulting from the wing blaze was probably extensive enough it caused the plane's third engine to lose thrust.

"With such a catastrophic event we cannot determine additional destruction was done when the powerplant separated," he said.

Another aviation expert observed the video evidence seemed to indicate the remaining powerplant had been compromised because it released smoke. The damage could have happened while it was struck by wreckage from the blaze and the powerplant separation.

"The tail-mounted powerplant that expelled a puff of smoke appears to wind down almost immediately afterwards," the expert said. "That left only the right engine generating power, creating a severe power imbalance and leaving the aircraft unable to achieve altitude.

"Failing two powerplants during take-off results in only a fraction of its thrust and minimal opportunity of maintaining flight, particularly under full departure mass," the expert added.

Why did the crash cause such damage?

Post-accident videos revealed a scene of complete chaos with multiple fires burning across a extensive area of the site and smoke billowing into the sky.

The aircraft, which was three decades old and had been operated for passenger travel before conversion, had previously made one return journey from Louisville to the East Coast on Tuesday.

It has not been confirmed what cargo was on board the flight bound for Hawaii, though officials stated the aircraft didn't contain anything that would create a heightened risk of contamination.

"This involved extended freight transport from Louisville to Honolulu, so the MD-11 was transporting a lot of jet fuel," an expert said. "The substantial fuel quantity not only diminished capability but also accounts for the massive explosion seen after the crash."

Authorities informed media that the aircraft was carrying 38,000 gallons of fuel for the extended trip when it crashed. The blaze was likely amplified on the ground because the plane crashed into a fuel processing facility adjacent to the airfield.

A specialist indicated investigators will now focus on the origin of the blaze, and "if wreckage hit the central powerplant, and whether earlier maintenance on the portside powerplant played a role." The expert continued: "Weather conditions were calm and clear, so weather-related causes are unlikely."

The federal investigation agency has dispatched personnel to the site and will take charge of the investigation into the accident's origins, though this can take up to two years to finalize.