CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - The Latest on a UPS-contracted cargo plane that went off the runway at a West Virginia airport (all times local):
9 p.m.
A federal aviation expert says no distress call was made before a small cargo plane carrying packages for UPS landed hard enough to leave gouge marks and then ran off the runway in Charleston, West Virginia.
Both the pilot and co-pilot were killed. They have not been publicly identified.
National Transportation Safety Board lead investigator Bill English says the plane broke into pieces and went down a steep hill, hitting small trees and brush.
English says the sky was overcast but there was about 10 miles of visibility under the cloud cover, which began at about 500 feet above the ground.
He says Yeager Airport, serving West Virginia’s capital, will remain closed until further notice, since the gouge marks may need repair. Joining the probe is the FAA and the Short Brothers Co. of Northern Ireland, which makes the SD330 plane that crashed.
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5 p.m.
United Airlines says it has canceled all flights into and out of Charleston, West Virginia, where a cargo plane crashed, killing the pilot and co-pilot.
Delta Air Lines and American Airlines each said they got one flight out in the morning Friday but canceled other flights. Delta had not decided by midafternoon whether to cancel its final flight into Charleston on Friday night or to fly to another airport in the region. Most of the flights use smaller regional planes.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash that happened just before 7 a.m. when an Air Cargo Carriers plane carrying UPS packages went off the runway and down a steep, wooded hill. The agency planned to hold a news conference Friday night in Charleston.
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12:40 p.m.
The Federal Aviation Administration says the West Virginia airport where a cargo plane crashed killing the pilot and co-pilot is closed.
The FAA said on its website that Yeager Airport in Charleston isn’t expected to reopen until Saturday morning.
The National Transportation Safety Board is en route to investigate the crash that happened shortly before 7 a.m. Friday when an Air Cargo Carriers plane carrying UPS packages went off the runway and down a steep, wooded hill.
Yeager Airport spokesman Mike Plante says the small twin-engine turboprop aircraft departed from Louisville, Kentucky, and was trying to land at the West Virginia airport when it crashed.
Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper told reporters the plane came in sideways, struck the runway early and rolled down the hill.
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9:25 a.m.
An airport official says two people have been killed after a cargo plane contracted by UPS went off the runway and over a hillside at a West Virginia airport.
Yeager Airport spokesman Mike Plante says the pilot and co-pilot died in Friday morning’s crash.
Plante says the Air Cargo Carriers plane departed from Louisville, Kentucky, and was trying to land when it went off the runway and down a steep, wooded hillside.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
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8:25 a.m.
An airport official says a cargo plane contracted by UPS has gone off the runway and over a hillside at a West Virginia airport.
Yeager Airport spokesman Mike Plante said the plane went off the runway Friday morning.
New outlets report emergencies crews are at the scene. It wasn’t immediately clear whether injuries have been reported.
Plante says the plane flew from Louisville, Kentucky, and was trying to land when it went off the runway.
Charleston airport officials have proposed spending $290 million to rebuild and extend the runway after a landslide in 2015 took out a church and an unoccupied house. The proposal calls for lengthening the runway from about 6,800 feet to 8,000 feet.
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