Curtis Tate

Investigators are still piecing together what went wrong.

The National Transportation Safety Board says the cockpit voice recorder revealed a repeating bell sound about 30 seconds into the takeoff.

It says the plane's left engine separated from the wing and was recovered near the end of the runway.

The crash left a fiery trail of debris.

For NPR News, I'm Curtis Tate in Shelbyville, Kentucky.

National Transportation Safety Board member Todd Inman says the MD-11 aircraft underwent maintenance in San Antonio for several weeks.

Inman also says data were successfully extracted from the plane's black box, and it showed the aircraft reached an altitude of 475 feet and was traveling 210 miles an hour before it crashed.

The plane was fully loaded with fuel and left a fiery trail of debris half a mile long.

UPS has now identified the three crew members who died.

For NPR News, I'm Curtis Tate in Shelbyville, Kentucky.

This is NPR.

National Transportation Safety Board member Todd Inman says the MD-11 aircraft underwent maintenance in San Diego for several weeks.

Inman also says data were successfully extracted from the plane's black box, and it showed the aircraft reached an altitude of 475 feet and was traveling 210 miles an hour before it crashed.

The plane was fully loaded with fuel and left a fiery trail of debris half a mile long.

UPS has now identified the three crew members who died.

For NPR News, I'm Curtis Tate in Shelbyville, Kentucky.

The National Transportation Safety Board says the plane's voice and data recorders both sustained fire damage in the crash.

NTSB member Todd Inman says investigators won't know the condition of their contents until they are sent to a laboratory in Washington for analysis.

Inman also says, according to airport security footage, the left engine became detached from the plane while it was attempting to take off.

Inman says the debris field stretches half a mile.