Plane crashes at Japan’s largest airport, kills two
Tokyo, Mar. 23: A cargo plane has crashed at Japan''s Narita international airport, killing both crew members on board.
The Federal Express plane, which was coming from Guangzhou in China, crash-landed in high winds of Japan’s largest airport near Tokyo at 0650 local time on Monday.
Footage of the crash shows the plane landing hard, tipping on to its left wing and bursting into flame as it then rolled over, BBC reports.
It took firefighters about thirty minutes to bring the fire under control. Parts of the wreckage were still burning hours after the crash.
The two American crew members were confirmed dead after reaching the hospital.
Officials said the pilot Kevin Kyle Mosley was 54 years old and the co-pilot Anthony Stephen Pino was 49.
The plane landed in strong winds of up to 45 miles per hour, and Japan''s meteorological agency had issued a storm warning in the area around Narita.
“We have information that strong winds caused the plane to divert from the runway,” a Narita Airport spokeswoman said.
But officials said it was too soon to confirm if the winds caused the crash.
Airlines have cancelled more than 30 flights and diverted others to nearby airports, because Narita''s longest runway remains closed.
It reportedly was the first fatal aircraft accident at Narita Airport since it opened in 1978. (ANI)