Story highlights There was no distress call from the pilots prior to impact, the NTSB says 
 
 NTSB investigators unable to immediately retrieve plane's recorders, official says 
 
 The pilot and co-pilot of the UPS plane die in the crash 
 
 A photograph shows the jet's crumpled front end resting amid debris 
 
 The pilot and co-pilot of a UPS cargo plane did not issue a distress call prior to crashing while on approach Wednesday to Birmingham's airport, a National Transportation Safety Board official said. 
 
 While UPS said the status of its crew remained unconfirmed, Birmingham Airport Authority Chairwoman Gaynell Hendricks and the city's mayor confirmed the pilot and co-pilot died in the crash. 
 
 "It's a grim scene," Hendricks told CNN affiliate WBRC 
 
 The plane, an Airbus A300-600F, broke into pieces, spreading the majority of the debris over an area of about 300 yards, said Robert Sumwalt of the NTSB. A photograph provided by city officials shows the crumpled front portion of the plane resting in a debris-strewn field. 
 
 The plane, which took off from Louisville, Kentucky, went down around 4:45 a.m. on a street that runs parallel to the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport, Mayor William Bell said. 
 
 Photos: Photos: UPS cargo plane crash Photos: Photos: UPS cargo plane crash UPS cargo plane crash – The pilot and co-pilot of a UPS cargo flight died Wednesday, August 14, when their Airbus A300 crashed on approach to Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport in Alabama. Hide Caption 1 of 5 Photos: Photos: UPS cargo plane crash UPS cargo plane crash – The plane, which took off from Louisville, Kentucky, went down about 4:45 a.m., according to airport officials. Hide Caption 2 of 5 Photos: Photos: UPS cargo plane crash UPS cargo plane crash – What caused the jet to crash was unclear. The weather was calm at the time, according to Mayor William Bell. The National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a team of investigators to the site. Hide Caption 3 of 5 Photos: Photos: UPS cargo plane crash UPS cargo plane crash – Fire crews investigate where a UPS cargo plane lies on a hill about a half-mile from the runway. Hide Caption 4 of 5 Photos: Photos: UPS cargo plane crash UPS cargo plane crash – Debris burns in front of the crash site. Hide Caption 5 of 5 
 
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 The location is about a half-mile north of the runway, FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen told CNN. 
 
 NTSB investigators have yet to retrieve the cockpit and voice recorders of the plane because the wreckage is still smoldering, Sumwalt said. Once the fire is out, authorities will retrieve the recorders, he said. 
 
 Even so, investigators have begun working to piece together what led to the crash. 
 
 The crew did not issue a distress call, Sumwalt said, confirming what the mayor said earlier. 
 
 The crew did not report any trouble, Bell said, citing conversations with control tower officials. Light showers and a visibility of 10 miles were reported in the area of the airport at the time of the crash, according to CNN meteorologist Dave Hennen. 
 
 A spokesman for Bell, the mayor, confirmed late Wednesday morning that no buildings were hit and no one on the ground was injured. 
 
 Alabama Power cut electricity to about 140 buildings near the crash site as a precaution, utility spokesman Michael Sznajderman told CNN. 
 
 Witness Peter Torres, a Civil Air Patrol member who said he is a former airline mechanic, said he thought he heard what sounded like a backfire from the jet's engines as the plane passed overhead. He rushed to his window. 
 
 "I saw the flash," of an apparent explosion, he said, followed by a "boom" that shook his home. 
 
 Airport neighbor Sharon Wilson told WBRC the plane seemed lower than usual for flights into the airport and sounded like it was sputtering as it flew overhead. 
 
 "We heard this loud boom, like, jump up out of your bed," she told the station. 
 
 The plane was one of two flights UPS sends to Birmingham each day, company spokesman Mike Mangeot told CNN affiliate WBRC 
 
 "This incident is very unfortunate, and our thoughts and prayers are with those involved," UPS Airlines President Mitch Nichols said in a statement. 
 
 The plane that crashed Wednesday was built in 2003 and had 11,000 hours in the air spread over 6,800 flights, Airbus said in a news release. 
 
 Only UPS and FedEx fly the A300 in the United States, according to its manufacturer, Airbus. While it was once used for commercial passenger flights in the United States, the plane is now used only for cargo flights. UPS has 53 of the planes, according to Airbus. 
 
 Wednesday's crash is the second involving an A300 in the United States. In 2001, an American Airlines A300 crashed in the Belle Harbor neighborhood of Queens, in New York City, shortly after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport. 
 
 All 260 people on board the plane, as well as five people on the ground, were killed. 
 
 The cause was ultimately attributed to pilot error, according to the NTSB, which said the first officer put excessive pressure on the rudder pedal, causing the separation of the vertical stabilizer. 
 
 The Birmingham crash is the second fatal accident involving a large jet in the United States since early July, when an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 crashed on landing at San Francisco International Airport. Three people died. 
 
 Wednesday's crash comes nearly three years after UPS's last major incident, the crash of a Boeing 747 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, that killed two crew members. 
 
 Investigators traced the crash to a large fire in the cargo hold, which included a number of flammable lithium batteries, according to the country's General Civil Aviation Authority. 
 
 In 2006, a McDonnell Douglas DC-8 flown by UPS caught fire after landing at Philadelphia International Airport. Three crew members on the plane evacuated with minor injuries, according to NTSB records. Most of the cargo was destroyed. ||||| A federal aviation official says a large UPS cargo plane has crashed near an airport in Birmingham, Ala. 
 
 Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen tells The Associated Press that the A300 plane crashed on approach to the airport before dawn Wednesday. 
 
 Bergen says the plane was en route from Louisville, Ky. to Birmingham. 
 
 Few other details were immediately available. 
 
 Bergen says she had no information on injuries. ||||| View the flight tracking log for the UPS cargo plane that crashed in Birmingham this morning. 
 
 View the flight tracking log for the UPS cargo plane that crashed in Birmingham this morning. 
 
 UPDATE: WSMV has confirmed the identity of one of the pilots killed this morning as Shanda Fanning. 
 
 WSMV was tipped that there was a meeting of employees at the Jack Daniels distillery in Tenn. this morning to inform them of the development. Bret Fanning, the woman's husband, is part of the family that runs the distillery. 
 
 
 
 UPDATE: 8:15 a.m.: Alabama Power reports 76 customers are without power after the plane came into contact with the lines. 
 
 Power will be restored as soon as it's safe to do so. 
 
 
 
 UPDATE 7:50 a.m.: Bettina Boateng reports that the plane is broken in two pieces, with debris littered across the Airport Highlands or Zion City area. 
 
 The Birmingham-Shuttlesworth airport is still operating as normal. However, the field 900 yards north of the airport is still an active scene. The fire has been suppressed. 
 
 The mayor's office says no structures on the ground were damaged, but some trees and power lines were damaged. 
 
 
 
 The NTSB is expected to speak shortly on the crash. 
 
 Anyone with information on the incident is asked to send photos or information to wvtm13@wvtm.com. 
 
 
 
 UPDATE: The Birmingham Mayor's Office has confirmed that the pilot and copilot of the plane have died in the crash. We'll continue to update this story as information is confirmed. 
 
 
 
 A UPS Cargo Plane is on fire after crashing in east Birmingham early this morning. 
 
 
 
 The plane crashed near 19th Avenue North and North East Lake Boulevard in an open field that used to be a neighborhood. That field is now owned by the airport. 
 
 A statement from UPS said they are still working to determine details of the incident. 
 
 
 
 According to the Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen the A300 plane crashed on approach to the airport just before dawn. Bergen says the plane was en route from Louisville, KY. 
 
 Alabama's 13 was on the scene and say the plane is still burning. The crew spoke to neighbors and they say the heard a large boom and then several other explosions. The media has been asked to move back due these explosions. There could be debris covering about half a mile. 
 
 Again Alabama's 13 has a crew on the scene and will bring you the latest as we receive more information.
– The pilot and co-pilot of a UPS cargo plane are dead after the plane crashed near the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport this morning, the mayor's office says. The Airbus A300 went down before dawn in calm weather as it approached the airport, report AP and CNN. The pilot and co-pilot were the only people aboard, says a UPS spokesperson. It went down in a field owned by the airport, reports WVTM, about a half-mile away from one of the runways. The plane had taken off from Louisville, Ky.