the final moments before impact. abc's david kerley is in birmingham. >> reporter: huge flames erupted just before dawn as the giant u.p.s. cargo jet shattered into pieces, crashing just short of the birmingham airport and about 1,000 feet from several homes. >> really, really loud. and then it shook the house. like it rattled the house. >> a big fireball. >> there were three of them. there were three pieces that rolled back down the hill. >> reporter: with daylight, a clear picture of how the airbus a-300 broke apart and burned. a wing here. engines there. nose section mostly intact. but back in the neighborhood, cornelius and barbara benson -- >> i didn't know what it was. i thought the was judgment day. >> reporter: -- couldn't believe their eyes when they came outside. the big jet had sheered off trees, raining aircraft debris all over their lawn. >> aluminum. that's part of the fuselage. >> that's the wing. >> reporter: it was around 6:00 that the u.p.s. jet on a flight from louisville. no emergency call, sheared off