This fall, Sabit Aliyev helped open a semi truck repair shop called Kentucky Truck Parts and Services near Muhammad Ali International Airport. A former truck driver, he was eager to settle down in one place and spend more time with his wife and three kids.
“Everything was good — we sell tires, we fix mechanical stuff, we help out people,” Aliyev said.
Then, on Nov. 4, a UPS plane crashed and exploded right in front of the shop. It killed 14 people and wounded dozens more.
Aliyev was at the shop when it happened. He escaped safely, and in the following days, news outlets everywhere were sharing his story and dramatic cell phone videos.
The plane and wreckage left a debris field over a half-mile long. Today, investigators are still swarming the crash site. Many roads around it are closed — which means Aliyev can’t freely get to the shop. No customers means no income for almost three weeks. Things are starting to get tight, but he said he doesn’t want his family to worry.
“They don’t have to know. They have to know they have a house and all that stuff, and somehow I will take care of it. I have to,” he said. “But the bills are bad. The electric bill came up like $570.”
Aliyev has been able to get a police escort to the shop just long enough to pick up some tools. But until roads around the crash site are opened, it’s effectively closed. All he has now is an air compressor and some wrenches in the back of a rusted pickup truck — not even enough to do most jobs.
“If somebody called me, like, ‘Hey, I need tires,’ I can only do tires,” he said “I’m limited, big time.”
Late last week, Louisville officials said they estimate 90 businesses like Aliyev’s are affected in some way, even if they didn’t take on direct damage.
“There’s a large area where businesses have not had electricity. They’ve not had gas. They’ve not been able to access their building on a regular basis,” Mayor Craig Greenberg said. “So they’ve been impacted, even if physically the building is still there.”
Greenberg said there are also many businesses nowhere near the crash site that might be impacted if they’re part of a link in a supply chain.
With all that in mind, the federal government recently activated a Small Business Administration aid program for businesses in Jefferson and other surrounding counties. It offers low-interest loans of up to $2 million after all sorts of disasters.
Starting Friday, federal SBA employees started being stationed at a community resource center where local government workers and nonprofits were already offering services and aid programs since the crash.
“We want anyone who thinks they’re impacted from a business perspective to come talk to the people at SBA, or if you’re an individual, that’s what the community resource center is here for,” Greenberg said.
For his part, Aliyev said he’s uncomfortable with the idea of getting aid from the government for a crash he considers to be UPS’s fault.
Donika Farnham with the SBA said she understands there may already be a class action lawsuit against UPS for the lost business, but that will take time to settle.
“That’s going to take years,” she said. “In the meantime these businesses must remain operational. How do they do that? Especially right before the holidays. It’s these kinds of disasters specifically that activate the loan program that we have.”
Farnham said Aliyev’s concern about who pays and who’s to blame is heard — but she said to remember that this is why people pay taxes.
“Whether it’s a tornado or a shooting or a plane crash, I want my taxes to help pay for that,” she said.
In the meantime, Louisville officials say they don’t have a firm timeline for when the area can reopen. It could take several more weeks — maybe even months. They plan to reopen access with a “phased approach” and that they’ll notify people when it’s time.
