WASHINGTON - A cargo plane crashed Wednesday in a grassy area outside an airport in Alabama, killing the two-member cockpit crew, a U.S. official and the mayor said.
The Airbus (IW 1000/52) A300 plane belonging to UPS was traveling from Louisville and crashed while approaching Birmingham airport, about half a mile north of the runway, said Kathleen Bergen, an official with the Federal Aviation Administration.
She said she had no information on injuries. But Birmingham mayor William Bell said the pilot and co-pilot died in the pre-dawn crash, the news web site al.com said.
No one was injured on the ground, Bell was quoted as saying. A church and several homes lie 500 yards from the crash site, al.com said.
It quoted one Eddie Smith, who lives near the airport, as saying he heard a loud explosion before dawn.
"It shook my house so hard I jumped up," Smith said. Later, another loud boom rang out, he said.
UPS issued a brief statement saying it would provide details as they become available, but gave no word on how many people were on the plane.
"As we work through this difficult situation, we ask for your patience, and that you keep those involved in your thoughts and prayers," the UPS statement said.
National Transportation Safety Board statement
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2013
Video courtesy of al.com.
