A Kalitta Air Boeing 747 cargo jet carrying 76 tons of cargo Sunday crashed following an aborted takeoff at Brussels airport that split the fuselage and (according to some early reports) left four of the five crew members with minor injuries. The aircraft did not catch fire (and may have retained much of the fuel that would have carried it to Bahrain). It ran off the end of Runway 22 and came to rest roughly 300 yards off the end of the runway and 500 yards from homes. The pilot reportedly told rescue authorities he heard a loud noise while on takeoff roll at 1130 GMT, but few details were available prior to our deadline. No obvious cause of the accident was immediately evident. The weather was clear following light rains.
