LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Firefighters from the Kentucky Air National Guard were among hundreds of emergency workers who responded Nov. 4 to a fatal civilian plane crash just south of Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport.
Eight Guard firefighters and four fire trucks were deployed to the crash site about 5:20 p.m., said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Ty Allen, fire chief for the 123rd Airlift Wing. That was about five minutes after the port wing of a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 caught fire and its engine detached from the aircraft during take-off, causing the United Parcel Service cargo plane to lose altitude and burst into flames upon impact with the ground near Grade Lane and Fern Valley Road, according to an official from the National Transportation Safety Board.
Fourteen people died in the accident, including all three crew members on the plane, said Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg. At least a dozen people were injured.
The aircraft, en route to Hawaii and carrying 38,000 gallons of aviation fuel, struck a petroleum recycling facility and multiple other structures, leaving a long trail of flaming debris. A towering plume of black smoke was visible several miles from the crash site.
Arriving first on scene with their airport authority counterparts, the Guard firefighters quickly employed a tanker truck, a pumper truck, a crash truck and a mobile command post, U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Kyle Miller said. The two teams immediately began dispersing firefighting foam — a key element in suppressing jet-fuel fires, which cannot be extinguished with water.
“We used our tanker truck to supply water to the (airport authority’s) crash truck,” which mixed the water with concentrated foam to lay down a fire-suppressing blanket,” Miller said. “Working together, we were putting out about 300 gallons a minute from the airport authority apparatus.”
Meanwhile, another Guard firefighter deployed his own blanket of foam from the Air Force crash truck, and a third Guard effort directed a master stream of water to protect storage tanks filled with oil at the recycling facility, where at least two tanks had already exploded from the heat.
The crash site, which stretched for more than a quarter-mile, was challenging for multiple reasons.
“There was 280,000 pounds of jet fuel at the site, and that’s going to burn hot and heavy with thick black smoke,” Miller said.
Access also was limited because of downed power lines and fallen telephone poles.
“We just started fighting whatever fire we could see,” he said, “putting down foam to suppress the vapors and get the fire under control so that someone else could possibly get in there and see about any victims.”
The scene was unlike anything Miller had encountered in 24 years as a firefighter, with a wall of intense smoke and fire rising to 200 feet.
“I’ve never experienced anything with this much fuel, this giant of an aircraft,” he said. “It was a little bit chaotic at first, but everybody was doing exactly what we are trained to do.”
Miller added that help from numerous other fire departments — including one unit as far away as Lexington — was crucial to stopping the fire, which burned for hours.
“We worked together as one team and integrated extremely well with each other. You have a job, and whatever you are told to do, you do it.”
Twenty Airmen and Soldiers from the Kentucky National Guard’s 41st Civil Support Team also mobilized Nov. 4 to provide air quality assessments, said U.S. Air Force Capt. Blake Culver, the team’s science officer. The Louisville-based unit, which remained on site today, has deep expertise in hazardous materials management.
Using a plume model developed with assistance from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, the unit deployed seven teams across the city to analyze air samples for the presence of toxic volatile organic compounds, such as benzene and cyanide.
“Those compounds are going to be products of the flames from the crash,” Culver said. “Once the fuel heats to a certain temperature, it’s not jet fuel anymore. It becomes a lot of different things. Then there are all the compounds and materials that are used to fabricate an airplane and the cargo inside it. They’re going to be on fire as well.”
Culver said his team, in consultation with UPS, determined that none of the cargo was unusually hazardous. Team members then worked with environmental officials to develop a list of specific compounds to measure in the atmosphere. As a result of that analysis, city officials initially instituted a shelter-in-place order for anyone within 5 miles of the crash site. That was reduced to a 1-mile perimeter about three hours later.
Air Force Brig. Gen. Bruce Bancroft, the Kentucky National Guard’s assistant adjutant general for Air, said Guard members will remain on duty to assist with the response as necessary.
“The Kentucky Air National Guard shares a deep family connection to UPS and the local community,” he said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone impacted by this horrible tragedy. We will continue to provide support to local, state and federal authorities as long as it’s needed.”