Birmingham , Alabama ( CNN ) -- 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 . 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 . Five facts to calm plane crash fears . 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 . CNN 's David Mattingly reported from Birmingham , with Michael Pearson and Chelsea J. Carter writing in Atlanta . CNN 's Marlena Baldacci , Aaron Cooper , Mike Ahlers and Stephanie Gallman also contributed to this report .
NEW : 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 .