A Federal Express Corp. cargo plane crashed and burst into flames early Monday at Narita International Airport, east of Tokyo, said reports from Narita, Chiba Prefecture, citing airport and police officials.

Photo taken on March 23, 2009 shows the crash site of a cargo plane at the Narita International Airport, east of Tokyo, capital of Japan. A Federal Express Corp. cargo plane crashed and burst into flames early Monday at the Narita International Airport, reports from Narita, Chiba Prefecture, cited airport and police officials as saying. The crash caused the pilot and the co-pilot aboard dead.[Xinhua]

The pilot and the co-pilot aboard, both US citizens in their 50s and 40s, were confirmed dead after being rescued from the crashed plane at around 8:00 a.m. and taken to the Japanese Red Cross hospital, hospital officials said.

A FedEx Corp cargo plane bursts into flames at Narita International Airport March 23, 2009 in this video grab taken from TBS footage. [Xinhua]

The MD-11 plane, a cargo flight from Guangzhou, crash landed on Runway A at about 6:50 a.m. (2150 GMT) when there were strong winds of up to 72 km per hour, which whipped the plane back up and made its left wing hit the ground.  

The runway is currently closed and it is unknown if passenger flights will be affected, according to the airport office.