I couldn't find a better source that was legal to post at the time I posted. The one I did post was only up 5 minutes before I saw it.
Here's what the Telegraph wrote. It is much better written. Most of the questions on this tread are answered in the first sentence.
Aeroplane splits in half on take-off
By Tom Chivers and agencies
Last updated: 4:41 PM BST 25/05/2008An aeroplane has crashed on take-off from Belgium and spectacularly split in two.
Four of the cargo plane’s crew were slightly hurt and taken to hospital, according to a spokesman for Brussels Airport.
The large Boeing 747 had attempted to take off for a flight to Bahrain but suffered an unknown problem and crashed at the end of the runway, near railway tracks and some houses.
On impact it split cleanly in two around ten yards behind the cockpit.
"The plane is very seriously damaged," spokesman Jan Van der Cruysse said, with some understatement.
Mercifully the plane did not catch fire, although firefighters coated the wings with a special fire-retardant foam as a precaution, as its fuel tanks were still filled with highly flammable jet fuel.
Rail services to and from the airport have been suspended, but other flights to and from Brussels have not been affected.
Rescue and recovery efforts at the airport are being coordinated by Francis Vermeiren, mayor of the nearby town of Zaventem.
"The plane is not on fire but it has split into two," he told VRT radio.
He said the plane was on a scheduled flight to Bahrain. It was not known what cargo the plane was carrying.
Vermeiren said the pilot told rescue authorities he heard a large noise while trying to take off just after midday. It was not yet clear what caused the crash.
The plane is owned by Kalitta Air, a cargo carrier based at Willow Run Airport near Ypsilanti, Michigan, and makes regular flights from Brussels, officials said.
A person who answered the telephone at Kalitta Air said Sunday morning that no one was immediately available to comment.
