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No fewer than nine people lost their lives and 11 others were hurt after a freight aircraft crashed during departure from an international airport in Kentucky's largest city on Tuesday evening.

Aviation experts believe the plane crashed due to a single engine malfunctioned and another appeared to be damaged while lifting off.

The exact cause remains unknown why the aircraft failed, leading to a huge explosion to ignite after it couldn't become airborne from the runway. Video evidence showed fire had already engulfed one wing of the plane during its takeoff attempt, potentially spreading across the aircraft and triggered the blast, or the jet could have caught fire after colliding with an object on the ground.

What is apparent is that the 144,000 litres of jet fuel aboard the MD-11 jet required for the journey probably intensified the fire, which rapidly extended to multiple structures past the airstrip and burned for hours.

How did it start?

The shipping giant uses Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport as a distribution hub for its global operations and its Flight 2976 was at the start of a 4,300 mile trip to Hawaii's capital when the freight aircraft initiated departure.

Data from FlightRadar24 indicates the plane began to taxi along the designated runway at around 17:15 local time and attained a top speed of 214mph.

But verified footage shows that when the plane reached this speed a blaze had fully consumed its port side and the plane couldn't climb before the enormous detonation.

Authorities issued a local safety directive to local residents and dispatched numerous fire crews to the location.

The state's governor verified details visible in security camera recordings that depict the aircraft flying just feet above the surface before a bright flash engulfed the plane. It is then seen slamming into the terrain as a huge fireball erupts around it about a minute into its journey.

A verified clip recorded by drivers on adjacent roads displayed the fire rising into the air while subsequent recordings showed smoke pouring from the area.

Overhead photographs broadcast by regional news outlets showed wreckage scattering across the airstrip and landing on the roofs of multiple nearby establishments.

What could have caused the crash?

ATC transmissions reviewed are largely garbled and filled with static so no clear dialogue can be discerned about the incident as it developed.

However, experts suggested that a dramatic failure of multiple engines may have been responsible for the tragedy.

The trijet cargo aircraft employs three powerplants. Two are installed under the wings, and a third is built into the rear section at the bottom of the tail fin.

Footage confirmed showed a blaze engulfing the port wing of the plane, which then leaned leftward as it tried to achieve altitude and become airborne.

Two experts separately proposed the portside engine may have detached from the plane after suffering from a mechanical or structural failure.

Separate images captured post-accident displayed a burned powerplant resting on the turf next to the runway.

A retired airline pilot and aviation safety expert commented that it was "extremely rare" for an engine to detach during operation.

He referenced the 1979 aviation disaster disaster, in which 273 individuals were killed after the plane's engine detached as it took off from Chicago's major airport. Engine components had been damaged when it was installed on the aircraft, but the specialist said it was premature to determine whether a similar fault caused the powerplant separation on the MD-11.

The specialist said the cargo plane would have been capable of flight with just two engines but the damage caused by the fire on the left wing was probably extensive enough it caused the plane's third engine to lose thrust.

"With such a catastrophic event we cannot determine what other damage was caused when the engine came adrift," he said.

Another aviation expert observed the video evidence seemed to indicate the remaining powerplant had been compromised because it released smoke. The issue could have happened while it was struck by wreckage from the blaze and the engine detaching.

"The upper engine that released smoke seems to shut down almost immediately afterwards," the specialist said. "This left just the starboard powerplant producing thrust, creating a significant thrust asymmetry and leaving the aircraft unable to gain height.

"Losing two engines while departing results in only a third of its power and minimal opportunity of staying airborne, especially at maximum take-off weight," the expert added.

Why did the crash cause such damage?

Footage from the aftermath revealed a situation of total disorder with numerous blazes blazing across a large swathe of the site and smoke rising upward.

The aircraft, which was 34 years old and had been used as a passenger plane before conversion, had already completed one round trip from the Kentucky hub to Baltimore in Maryland on the same day.

It has not been confirmed which goods was on board the flight bound for Hawaii, though authorities said the plane was not carrying anything that would create a heightened risk of environmental hazard.

"This involved extended freight transport from Louisville to Honolulu, so the MD-11 was carrying a lot of jet fuel," an expert said. "The substantial fuel quantity not only reduced performance but also explains the massive explosion observed post-accident."

Officials told reporters that the aircraft was carrying 144,000 litres of jet fuel for the long journey when it crashed. The fire was likely amplified on the ground because the plane crashed into a fuel recycling business next to the airport.

The expert said authorities will concentrate on the origin of the blaze, and "if wreckage hit the centre engine, and whether earlier maintenance on the left engine were a factor." The expert continued: "Atmospheric conditions were favorable, so environmental factors are unlikely."

The National Transportation Safety Board has dispatched personnel to the site and will take charge of the investigation into the causes of the crash, though this can take up to two years to complete.