TOKYO, March 23 (Reuters) - A Federal Express Corp cargo plane crashed and burst into flames as it landed at Narita international airport on Monday, closing one runway at the busy gateway to Tokyo.
NHK public broadcaster showed video of the plane crashing and exploding and said there was no immediate news of the fate of the pilot and co-pilot on board.
A Narita Airport spokesman said that one of the airport's two runways was closed but could not say if passenger flights would be affected.
Narita is the main international airport for the Japanese capital and NHK said the plane crashed on the main, long runway.
Japanese media said the plane was a FedEx cargo flight from Guangzhou, China and a FedEx logo was clearly visible on the upturned remains of the aircraft.
NHK's video showed the plane land hard and tip onto its left wing and burst into flame.
It ended upside down off to one side of the runway with firefighters spraying foam onto the broken remains of the plane with its wheel in the air.
Kyodo news agency said that the plane was an MD-11, a freighter made by McDonnell Douglas, part of Boeing Co (BA.N).