Thousands of stranded passengers at Narita International Airport were able to leave Tuesday after its runway was reopened following the fatal crash of a FedEx cargo plane crashed, killing two US pilots.
The charred wreckage of the wide-body McDonnell Douglas MD-11 was cleared from crash site, near the 4,000m Runway A used by more than 350 flights a day.
The longer of the two runways was opened in the morning. The accident was the hub’s first fatal accident.
Officials of Japan’s two major airlines, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways said that between them over 20,000 passengers were affected.
Not only were flights scheduled to depart Monday were cancelled, but also those arriving.
Wind shear was said to have been the cause of the crash, and not overloading as originally suspected.
Flight delays or cancellations are still expected until tomorrow, Wednesday, airport officials said.
For more updates, visit www.narita-airport.jp/en
Margie T Logarta
