Plumes of smoke rise from the area of a UPS cargo plane crash at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, on Tuesday in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A UPS cargo plane’s left wing caught fire and an engine fell off just before it crashed and exploded after takeoff in Kentucky, a federal official said Wednesday, offering the first investigative details about a disaster that killed at least 11 people, including a child.

First responders, meanwhile, searched for more victims, a day after the crash at UPS Worldport, the company’s global aviation hub in Louisville, though Gov. Andy Beshear said finding survivors seemed unlikely. The inferno consumed the enormous aircraft and spread to nearby businesses.

After being cleared for takeoff, a large fire developed in the left wing, said Todd Inman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation.

The plane gained enough altitude to clear the fence at the end of the runway before crashing just outside Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, Inman told reporters.

Airport security video “shows the left engine detaching from the wing during the takeoff roll,” he said.

The cockpit voice recorder and data recorder were recovered, and the engine was discovered on the airfield, Inman said.

“There are a lot of different parts of this airplane in a lot of different places,” he said, describing a debris field that stretched for half a mile.

A chain reaction

The plane with three people aboard crashed about 5:15 p.m. Tuesday as it was departing for Honolulu from UPS Worldport at the Louisville airport.

The crash had a ripple effect, striking and causing smaller explosions at Kentucky Petroleum Recycling and hitting an auto salvage yard, Grade A Auto Parts. Beshear said the child who died was with a parent at the parts business.

Beshear earlier said it was a “blessing” that the plane did not hit a nearby Ford Motor factory or the convention center.

U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey, D-Ky., praised firefighters who rushed headfirst to the disaster scene, describing it as “hotter than hell and raining down oil.”

Some people who heard the boom, saw the smoke and smelled burning fuel were still stunned a day later.

“I didn’t know if we were getting attacked. I didn’t know what was going on,” said Summer Dickerson, who works nearby.

Beshear predicted that the death toll would rise, saying authorities were looking for a “handful of other people” but “we do not expect to find anyone else alive.”

Mark Little, chief of the Okolona Fire District in Louisville, said debris would have to be moved and searched, adding: “It will take us quite a while.”

University of Louisville Hospital said two people were in critical condition in the burn unit. Eighteen people were treated and discharged at that hospital or other health care centers.

The airport is 7 miles from downtown Louisville, close to the Indiana state line, residential areas, a water park and museums. The airport resumed operations on Wednesday, with at least one runway open.

Beshear said he did not know the status of the three UPS crew members aboard the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 made in 1991. It was not clear if they were being counted among the dead.

Flight records show the plane was on the ground in San Antonio from Sept. 3 to Oct. 18.

Jeff Guzzetti, a former federal crash investigator, said a number of things could have caused the fire as the UPS plane was rolling down the runway.

“It could have been the engine partially coming off and ripping out fuel lines. Or it could have been a fuel leak igniting and then burning the engine off. It’s just too soon to tell,” said Guzzetti who investigated crashes for the NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration.