Seconds after the Los Angeles-bound Boeing 747-400 began its takeoff, a front wheel hit a concrete barrier, then the jetliner slammed into a construction crane that peeled open the plane's belly, said David Lee, an investigator with Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council.

``Bodies just began to fall out,'' Lee said as he led the first media tour of the crash site, strewn with soiled shirts from the luggage, children's jackets, and pink and purple Singapore Airlines socks.

The Oct. 31 nighttime crash killed 82 of the 179 people aboard Flight SQ006. Dozens were injured, most with serious burns.

Investigators have not been able to explain why the pilot took off on the closed runway, which ran parallel to the airstrip he was supposed to use.

The probe is focusing on whether the closed runway was improperly lit, inviting the pilot to make his fatal choice during a storm brought by an approaching typhoon.

Lee's crash account today was the most descriptive since the accident. Last week, when crash experts discussed the contents of the plane's ``black box'' cockpit recorder, they would only confirm the pilot picked the wrong runway and there was a series of collisions.

After hitting the crane, Lee said, the plane skidded along the runway, striking concrete blocks and other construction equipment. The left wing caught fire, the plane snapped in the middle and burst into flames.

Mangled pieces of the crane were scattered along the strip leading to the crash. Parts of Singapore Airlines' trademark blue and yellow metal covering were twisted around the crane.

In the plane's tail section, which Lee said was the least damaged, magazines and candies were strewn on the soiled purple seats. The ceiling and overhead compartments had collapsed, revealing air pipes and electrical cables.

Bouquets of lilies and pictures of the dead lay on the charred remains of the plane where the bodies were found. A Hello Kitty doll and musical scores littered the runway, and a makeshift Buddhist altar with incense and plates of apples and pears was arranged near the plane's nose.

Aviation safety officials from the United States and representatives from Singapore Airlines were picking through the debris. They declined to comment until a report is issued.

Taiwan authorities ordered the pilot and two co-pilots to remain in Taiwan indefinitely to help with the investigation, Singapore Airlines said today. Their movements have not been restricted and their passports have not been confiscated, the airline said.

Kay Yong, managing director of the Aviation Safety Council, declined to say whether the three cockpit crew members had been negligent in taking directions from air traffic control.

``We cannot give any direct probable cause. The final report might take as much as one year,'' Yong said at a briefing.

Inspection of the wreckage indicated that nothing was technically wrong with the plane, he said.

Investigators have heard conflicting reports about whether the lights along the side of the closed runway were switched on, indicating to the pilot that he could use the strip, Yong said.

Yong said he could only confirm that the center runway lights were on, because a section of the closed runway was used by taxiing aircraft.

Yong said that seconds after the crash, an airport maintenance vehicle requested the air traffic control tower to turn on the runway lights. The request, however, did not specify which of the two runways had their lights switched off, Yong said.

Providing another new detail, Yong said that visibility was 2950 feet at the time of the crash, better than the original estimate of 1640 feet.

But even then, the pilot would not have been able to see the first concrete block, which was 4921 feet from the runway's entrance, Yong said.