At least seven people died and several more were injured after a UPS cargo plane crashed shortly after takeoff on Nov. 4 from Louisville International Airport in Kentucky, exploding into flames as it crashed into businesses adjacent to the airport.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 departing for Hawaii crashed at around 5:15 p.m. local time.
The death toll had risen to at least seven Tuesday night, and four of those killed were not on the plane, officials said.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said he expects the death toll to increase. Eleven people were also hurt, some of whom had “very significant” injuries, he said.
“Anybody who has seen the images, the video, knows how violent this crash is,” he said.
The cause of the crash was under investigation by the FAA and the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
Video shared by local broadcaster WLKY appears to show the aircraft's left engine on fire as it tried to lift off.
The flight "went down three miles south of the airfield" after taking off from runway 17R, said Jonathan Bevin, an airport police spokesman.
Louisville serves as the main U.S. air hub for UPS, according to a company fact sheet.
The crash comes amid one of the longest government shutdowns in U.S. history, with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warning of "mass chaos" earlier Nov. 4 due to a lack of air traffic control staff.
"You'll see mass cancelations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace, because we just cannot manage it because we don't have the air traffic controllers," Duffy told reporters.
