At least 13 people were killed after Tuesday afternoon’s horrific UPS plane crash in Louisville, Kentucky, the deadliest plane crash in the company’s history.
Among the dead are a grandfather and his granddaughter who were “in the wrong place, at the wrong time,” according to a crowdfunding page set up by their relatives.
Three flight crew members who were among those who died at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport have been named in a statement from UPS.
A father of two who passed away after suffering burns on 95 percent of his body has also been identified as one of those who were killed.
Footage capturing the crash and subsequent investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration determined that the plane’s left engine detached from the aircraft during takeoff. Afterward, the plane crashed back into the ground, tearing a hole through the roof of a UPS warehouse before exploding in a fireball at the airport.
The airport was closed on Tuesday night, but reopened Wednesday morning while search and recovery crews combed the debris for any sign of human remains.
The plane was carrying 38,000 gallons of fuel and hit two buildings, including a petroleum recycling facility, causing some containers filled with oil to explode at the site.
According to a family friend, Louisnes Fedon and his 3-year-old granddaughter were killed during the crash. Speaking to ABC News, the friend said that Fedon was “simply an angel on earth,” who helped raise a “whole village” by collecting metal at a junkyard near the airfield to sell.
According to a GoFundMe campaign created by Jason and Brandi Mattingly, family friends of Fedon, he and his unnamed granddaughter were “simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, becoming victims of this catastrophic and unforeseen accident.”
“His death has created a sudden and immense void that goes far beyond emotional grief,” Jason and Brandi Mattingly wrote.
The campaign was launched to raise money for Lousines’s children, Shanya and Sheldon, as well as his wife, Sharon, since the grandfather supported the family financially.
In a post on Facebook, Michelle Sweets named her brother, Matt as one of those who died.
“It is with the heaviest heart, I regret to inform all of you that he passed away this afternoon after fighting his hardest in the ICU.
A GoFundMe page has been established to support Sweets’ family. At the time of writing, the profile has raised $113,000, which is $103,000 more than the page’s stated goal of $10,000.
“The outpour of love and concern from our community has been truly touching. We’ll share information about arrangements in the next day or two. For now, please keep his girlfriend Brooke and his two young children in your prayers as well as the rest of us,” she wrote on Facebook.
UPS identified its employees who were killed on the plane in a social media post on Thursday.
“It is with great sorrow that we share the names of the UPS pilots on board UPS Flight 2976. Captain Richard Wartenberg, First Officer Lee Truitt, and International Relief Officer Captain Dana Diamond were operating the flight,” UPS said in its statement.
The post said the company’s “hearts go out to every UPSer who has been impacted and all in our Louisville community — supporting you and ensuring you receive the care and resources you need is our priority.”
While little information was immediately available about Wartenberg and Diamond, Truitt’s LinkedIn revealed that had been flying with UPS since 2021, and had previously worked as an airline captain at SkyWest Airlines and as a flight instructor in New Mexico.
The names of the other victims have not been released as of this report.
UPS reopened its Worldport facility — the company’s largest aviation hub — on Wednesday night, according to company spokesman Jim Mayer.
“Our goal is to begin returning the network to a normal cadence,” he told the Associated Press.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg visited the crash site and described the scene as “horrific,” with “charred, mangled metal” strewn about the impact area.
“You hear people say, ‘Oh, you only see that in the movies.’ This was worse than the movies,” Greenberg told reporters.
A public vigil for those killed has been planned for Thursday night by Teamsters Local 89, which represents UPS workers. Greenberg encouraged members of the public to attend the event to “share our heartbreak” and “find strength to keep moving forward.”
Investigators located the flight recorders — also known as black boxes — from the crash site. On Thursday, the NTSB announced that it was able to extract 63 hours worth of “good data points” from the box covering 24 flights made by the MD-11 aircraft, including its final flight.