14 DAY TRIAL // Two men died in a plane crash in Alabama on Wednesday morning, reports saying that the victims of the accident are the pilot and the copilot.
According to WVTM-TV, they were steering a cargo airplane bound for Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport. The plane had taken off from Louisville, Kentucky.
“At 6:11 a.m. EST, UPS Flight 1354 from Louisville, KY to Birmingham, AL, an A300 with two crewmembers, was involved in an accident on approach into the Birmingham airport,” a statement on the UPS website reads.
The aircraft was a UPS A-300 Airbus, tail number N155UP. UPS spokesperson Mike Mangeot identifies the flight as number 1354. The aircraft came to a crash landing before dawn and only two people were aboard.
“This incident is very unfortunate, and our thoughts and prayers are with those involved,” UPS Airlines President Mitch Nichols expresses.
“We place the utmost value on the safety of our employees, our customers and the public. We will immediately engage with the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation, and we will work exhaustively on response efforts,” continued Nichols.
The jumbo cargo plane crashed in close proximity to the Birmingham airport at about 5 a.m. It did not make it on airport grounds.
The bodies of the pilot and copilot have been recovered by first responders near the wreckage, Birmingham Mayor William Bell says.
“We heard this loud boom, like, jump up out of your bed,” resident Sharon Wilson describes for My Fox Alabama.
Another resident mentioned hearing “a large boom and then several other explosions” at that time.
No other injuries have been reported on the ground, as the crash site is an open area near 19th Avenue North and North East Lake Boulevard.