[David]

A military cargo plane carrying 17 people crashed near Dover Air Force base early Monday, officials said. There was no immediate word on fatalities.

The C-5 cargo plane, the military's largest, went down about 6:45 a.m., said Allen Metheny, assistant director in the state Department of Public Safety.

He said some people were taken to hospitals with injuries, but he did not have numbers or details of the extent of the injuries. BayHealth in Dover said the hospital received about 10 people from the crash site, including some who appeared able to walk, spokeswoman Pam Marecki said.

The plane broke into three pieces, with the cockpit separated from the fuselage and a wing shattered.

According to initial reports, it had just taken off and had some indications of a problem, said Col. Kate Haddock, spokeswoman at the Pentagon's Joint Chiefs of Staff. It turned back to land and fell short of the runway, she said.

Maj. Ange Keskey of the Air Mobility Command at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois confirmed 17 people were aboard and said the crash is being investigated.

The C-5 Galaxy, made by Lockheed Martin, is 247 feet long and can carry more than 200,000 pounds of cargo non-stop for 2,500 miles at jet speeds. The military uses the giant planes to transport trucks, tanks, helicopters and even smaller planes.