Frame by frame, six photos released by federal investigators on Thursday graphically capture the horrifying scene of ill-fated Flight 2976 as it turned into a deadly fireball along a Kentucky airport runway. The chilling sequence first shows an engine coming loose from the UPS cargo plane during takeoff. The engine then pops off the plane as fire erupts in the next image, followed by the blazing engine catapulting off the stricken aircraft, per the AP. The final images show the plane ablaze as it becomes airborne, leaving behind trails of smoke.
Moments later, the plane crashed in a massive explosion that killed 14 people—including the three crew members—and carved a path of destruction near Louisville International Airport. Dramatic videos of the crash showed the plane on fire plowing into buildings and generating a massive plume of smoke. The photos, taken from airport surveillance video, were included in a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board on the Nov. 4 disaster.
The images were eerily reminiscent of the dramatic photos of a stricken Air France Concorde jet before it crashed soon after takeoff outside Paris in 2000. As the investigation of the Kentucky crash continues, the preliminary report points to evidence of cracks in the left wing's engine mount. Other photos in the report show component pieces of the plane as investigators look for clues into what caused the crash.
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