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Louisville, KY – A chilling 25-second continuous bell alarm pierced the cockpit of a UPS cargo plane as pilots desperately fought to control the aircraft before it crashed during takeoff this week in Louisville, Kentucky. The tragic incident, which saw an engine detach and the plane erupt in flames, has claimed the lives of at least 14 people, including the three pilots on board.
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member Todd Inman revealed Friday that the cockpit voice recorder captured the persistent bell, which began approximately 37 seconds after the crew initiated takeoff thrust. The alarm continued until the recording abruptly ended, believed to be at the moment of final impact.
Inman stated that while various alarms have different meanings, investigators have confirmed a fire in the plane’s left wing. Flight data will be crucial in piecing together a clearer picture of the events leading to the crash. The NTSB is spearheading the investigation, and a transcript of the cockpit recording is expected to be released in several months as part of the official process.
According to Jeff Guzzetti, a former federal crash investigator, the continuous bell likely signaled an engine fire. Guzzetti explained that at the point the alarm sounded, the pilots were likely past their decision speed, making it too late to safely abort the takeoff. “They’ll need to thoroughly investigate the options the crew may or may not have had,” he told The Associated Press.
The devastating crash occurred Tuesday at UPS Worldport, the company’s global aviation hub in Louisville. Dramatic video footage captured the aircraft plummeting into businesses and transforming into a fiery inferno. Investigators are utilizing a wealth of visual evidence from phones, cars, and security cameras to reconstruct the incident.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg announced Friday evening on social media that another body had been recovered from the crash site, bringing the total number of known fatalities to at least 14.
UPS identified the three pilots on the ill-fated flight as Capt. Richard Wartenberg, First Officer Lee Truitt, and International Relief Officer Capt. Dana Diamond.
Bob Travis, president of the Independent Pilots Association, which represented the crew, shared with CBS News on Friday that he knew two of the pilots personally. “These were highly trained professionals,” Travis emphasized. “You’re not flying a wide-body aircraft around the world for UPS unless you have a lot of experience.”
Travis confirmed his organization is assisting NTSB investigators and expressed his unwavering belief that the crew exhausted every possible effort to prevent the catastrophic outcome. “Our training is robust,” Travis stated.
“Repeatedly, you are facing what it’s like to fly the aircraft if you’re missing an engine, or in some cases, two. As we witnessed on the video there, to me looked instantaneous, and it looked catastrophic.”
Given the extreme circumstances, Travis believes there was little the pilots could have done. “That’s my belief,” he reiterated. “It looked like a pretty, pretty hard situation to overcome.”
CBS News has identified some of the victims, including Louisnes Fedon and his 3-year-old granddaughter, Kimberly Asa. Matt Sweets, a father of two, was pulled from the wreckage but later succumbed to his injuries at a hospital. Angie Anderso, 45, is among nine individuals still missing, and friends believe she was at a scrap metal recycling facility when the plane crashed.
Travis affirmed that the union stands in solidarity with the survivors and the families of the victims. “They were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Travis told CBS News. “And our hearts bleed for them, just like our hearts bleed for the pilots.”