At least nine people were killed and more than a dozen others injured after a UPS plane crashed shortly after takeoff near the Louisville International Airport on Tuesday, officials said.
The death toll rose on Wednesday morning, as Louisville mayor Craig Greenberg said on social media that first responders had located nine victims at the crash site. Officials had previously said the death toll was at least seven.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear confirmed the increased death toll in a post on social media and said there is “the possibility of more” fatalities. He said during a Wednesday morning news briefing that there should be a solid grasp on the death toll by the afternoon. He declared a state of emergency on Wednesday.
None of the victims have been identified, officials said on Wednesday afternoon. Greenberg said the Jefferson County Coroner has been at the scene and will make identifications. Greenberg said Tuesday night that at least four people had been killed on the ground. UPS said the plane had a crew of three.
Beshear wrote on Wednesday that 16 families have reported loved ones who are unaccounted for. Search and rescue operations began overnight and are continuing this morning, he said.
Health care system UofL Health told CBS News that it received 15 patients across its several hospitals and medical centers. Thirteen of those patients were discharged Wednesday morning, and two remain in critical condition in the intensive care unit at UofL Hospital, the network said.
WLKY-TV
UPS Flight 2976 crashed around 5:15 p.m. local time after it departed from the Louisville airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The aircraft was headed to Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, Hawaii, when it went down three miles south of the airfield, Louisville airport public safety officer Jonathan Biven said at a news conference.
According to preliminary flight data from FlightRadar24, the three-engine McDonnell Douglas MD-11 plane appeared to hit 175 feet in altitude briefly after takeoff. Louisville Fire Chief Brian O’Neill said the plane was carrying about 38,000 gallons of fuel, weighing about 233,000 pounds. That likely led to the significant fire as seen from CBS affiliate WLKY-TV‘s chopper. The plane was also carrying up to 20,000 packages.
Videos of the crash showed the aircraft partially on fire as it sped down the runway before it burst into flames. Other images suggest the plane’s left engine separated from the plane during the fire. Debris from the separation may have been sucked into another engine, meaning the plane could not generate sufficient lift to take off.
More than 200 first responders, including 100 firefighters, responded to the fiery crash site, Greenberg said. Congressman Morgan McGarvey praised those who rushed to the “apocalyptic, awful scene” during a news briefing from the mayor’s office on Wednesday.
Dozens of emergency responders remained on the scene as of Wednesday afternoon, Okolona Fire Protection District Chief Mark Little said during the mayor’s briefing. Some small fires remain active, Little said. The size of the debris zone is creating issues for search and rescue team members, Little said.
Two businesses were directly impacted, Beshear said Wednesday, including a petroleum recycling facility and an auto parts business. Greenberg said oil stored in the petroleum facility entered waterways, and there were vehicles and lots of scrap metal in the auto parts business, complicating search efforts. A nearby restaurant was not hit and is helping with the recovery, Beshear said. The plane crashed near a Ford facility but did not hit it, Beshear said.
Greenberg said that the intense flames burned away some of the debris, including parts of the plane.
WLKY-TV 
Beshear said there was no hazardous cargo onboard the plane that would create environmental issues around the crash site, but urged residents to follow any shelter-in-place orders. There is still a shelter-in-place order for those within a quarter-mile radius of the crash site, Greenberg said Wednesday morning. All schools in the Jefferson County School District, the state’s largest with just under 100,000 students, will be closed Wednesday, Greenberg said.
Greenberg said Wednesday afternoon that power is being returned to over 100 customers and that water is safe to drink unless residents have received a specific advisory from Louisville officials. Air quality is being monitored, Greenberg said.
Greenberg urged any residents who find debris on their property not to touch it, and instead report it through a website that should be live by Wednesday. He also warned that residents should avoid flying drones over the crash site, warning that the devices could “get in the way of our recovery operations” and that operators risk prosecution and federal fines.
All arriving and departing flights at the Louisville airport were temporarily suspended, and the airport was closed Tuesday night. It reopened on Wednesday morning, the Federal Aviation Administration said, though multiple taxiways remain closed.
The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation into the crash. Investigators from the NTSB and the FAA arrived at the scene Wednesday morning, the aviation agency said. There are 28 NTSB investigators on the ground, McGarvey said, and the agency is expected to give a briefing later Wednesday. McGarvey said that the ongoing government shutdown would have no impact on the investigation.
Jon Cherry / AP 
Louisville International Airport is home to UPS Worldport, an international air hub for the parcel service. The 5.2 million-square-foot facility processes up to 400,000 packages an hour and employs 20,000 UPS workers. The facility sees more than 300 daily UPS flights, according to the company.
“This is a UPS town,” Louisville Metro Councilwoman Betsy Ruhe, whose district is part of the crash site, said during the news conference Tuesday night. “We all know somebody who works at UPS, and they’re all texting their friends, their family, trying to make sure everyone is safe. Sadly, some of those texts are probably going to go unanswered.”
Package sorting operations at the facility were paused on Tuesday night and resumed Wednesday morning. UPS said Wednesday morning that sorting for the expedited shipping service Second Day Air was canceled for the day and that employees in that department should not report to work.
Some UPS packages may be delayed because of halted operations. The investigation could also cause further operational delays, if officials need to inspect or review other planes, though UPS could charter additional planes to meet delivery needs.
UPS Airlines planned to operate about 25 MD-11 planes by the end of the year, and is phrasing out the aging three-engine jets for newer and more fuel-efficient two-engine freighters. The crashed plane was built in 1991, according to according to FAA data.
The Red Cross is providing assistance to the families of victims, McGarvey said. Beshear said that an emergency relief fund has been established to help those affected.