N Carolina plane crash kills 21

The plane's wing hit a hangar as it came down

Officials in the United States are investigating the cause of a plane crash that killed 21 people in the south-eastern city of Charlotte, North Carolina.

The plane is so destroyed there's not much to see

Police spokesman Keith Bridges

Both the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder have now been located, and sent to Washington for analysis, the National Transportation and Safety Board says.

"Both were burned, but it does appear they were in decent shape," said NTSB member John Goglia.

Aviation officials said the pilot reported an unspecified emergency just before Wednesday's crash - America's first fatal passenger plane accident in more than a year.

BBC correspondent Katty Kay says conditions were reportedly clear but very windy, and small planes are particularly vulnerable to such conditions.

Fireball

All the passengers and crew of the commuter plane have been confirmed dead.

Click here to see how the plane crashed

Witnesses reported seeing US Airways Express Flight 5481 suddenly lose altitude shortly after take-off.

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The plane, a Beech 1900 turboprop, then veered slightly, clipping the side of an airport hangar and flipping onto its back before crashing near the hangar at Charlotte's Douglas International Airport. It burst into flames, spreading smoke across the airport.

Emergency workers were at the scene within two minutes, but it was too late to save any of those on board.

"The plane is so destroyed there's not much to see," police spokesman Keith Bridges told the Associated Press news agency.

"The debris is in such bad shape."

Airport closed

The plane was on its way to Greenville-Spartanburg airport in South Carolina when it crashed at around 0845 local time (1345 GMT).

"I saw a lot of smoke, a lot of fire, I could see some wreckage," witness David Isola said.

"Firefighters were spraying cars in the parking lot as they were afraid they would catch fire."

The Transportation Security Administration, which now handles airline security following the 11 September attacks, said it would not be involved in the investigation at present because there was "no security issue as far as we know," a spokesman said.

The airport, which temporarily closed two runways and partially suspended operations, has since reopened and flights have resumed.

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