Tragedy struck Louisville last week when a UPS cargo plane crashed near the Muhammad Ali International Airport, claiming the lives of 14 people, Kentucky officials confirmed Wednesday.
The victims are Capt. Dana Diamond, 62; Capt. Richard Wartenberg, 57; First Officer Lee Truitt, 45; Angela Anderson, 45; Carlos Fernandez, 52; Trinadette “Trina” Chavez, 37; Tony Crain, 65; John Loucks, 52; John Spray, 45; Matthew Sweets, 37; Ella Petty Whorton, 31; Megan Washburn, 35; Louisnes Fedon, 47; and her 3-year-old granddaughter Kimberly Asa. UPS had earlier confirmed the identities of the three pilots, Diamond, Wartenberg, and Truitt. Some of the other victims were customers or employees of Grade A Auto Parts and Scrap Metal Recycling, according to owner Sean Garber.
“Our city feels the full weight of this unimaginable tragedy,” Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said at a press conference. “Behind every one of these names is a circle of family, friends, stories that will forever be unfinished.” Officials confirmed that no additional victims were involved in the crash.
Victims were identified through DNA, medical, and dental records, completed less than 24 hours before the announcement. Families have been notified. “I hope that with this certainty, their grieving can continue and turn to healing, and that they can begin to find ways to move forward, to recover from this trauma and find joy and happiness in life once again, knowing it will be never be the same without their loved one,” Greenberg added.
Jefferson County Coroner Jo-Ann Farmer said officials and families felt a sense of relief that all bodies were accounted for. “I had a family member ask me yesterday ‘how do you ever get used to this? And I said ‘I don’t,'” she said. “If I get used to this and it doesn’t bother me, I’m in the wrong profession.”
The crash on Nov. 4 occurred when the plane’s left engine caught fire and detached during takeoff. The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 was carrying roughly 38,000 gallons of fuel and was en route to Honolulu. Video shared online shows the aircraft on fire moments before it hit an industrial area south of the airport, obliterating multiple buildings. Satellite images show debris scattered over more than half a mile.
In the wake of the crash, UPS and FedEx grounded their fleets of the MD-11, and the FAA ordered inspections of all similar aircraft. While the crash occurred during the nation’s longest government shutdown, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy dismissed any connection between the two.
UPS is Louisville’s largest employer, with over 25,000 local workers. The company calls the airport “the centerpiece of the company’s global air network,” handling roughly 400 flights daily.
Mayor Greenberg urged those affected to call a new support hotline at 502-473-5271. “As we hear these names today, let’s never forget their lives, their laughter, their love and all that they meant to those around them and to our entire city,” he said.
The last UPS plane crash occurred in 2013 near Birmingham, Alabama, killing two pilots.
