Seventeen killed as US school trip plane crashes | Click here to launch the slide show

In this video footage, a FedEx cargo plane can be seen smashing into the runway at Tokyo's Narita Airport and bursting into a ball of fire today while attempting to land.

The plane's American pilot and co-pilot, the only two people on board, were killed in the crash, which investigators believe may have been partially caused by a sudden gust of wind.

Footage from airport's CCTV cameras shows the flight from FedEx’s hub in Guangzhou, China, bouncing after its initial touch down and then skipping along the main runway before flipping over and coming to a halt.

Firefighters and rescuers swarmed the MD-11 plane but were unable to save Kevin Kyle Mosley, 54, and Anthony Stephen Pino, 49, the pilot and co-pilot. Mr Mosley lived in Hillsboro, Oregon, and Mr Pino was from San Antonio, Texas, according to online records at the Federal Aviation Administration.

Parts of the wreckage were still burning hours after the crash, forcing the cancellation of dozens of flights.

Investigators said that the accident may have been caused by low-level turbulence or “wind shear” - sudden gusts that can lift or smash an aircraft into the ground during landing.

Unusually strong winds of up to about 47 miles per hour were blowing through Narita City this morning at around the time of the crash, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

Kazuhito Tanakajima, an aviation safety official at the Transport Ministry, said that the wind speed at the time of the accident was not enough to be considered dangerous unless wind shear was involved. He said that there was headwind of about 45mph and a crosswind of about 7mph.

Strong winds and turbulence have caused other recent incidents at the airport.

Last month, a flight from the Philippines was jolted by severe turbulence as it circled prior to landing, injuring 50 passengers and crew members.

The MD-11 has in the past been involved in accidents in which it flipped while landing, and some pilots have been known to complain about the aircraft. The plane is no longer used by carriers for passenger travel but is widely employed for moving cargo.

In 1999, an MD-11 flipped over and burst into flames, killing three people during a crash landing in a storm in Hong Kong, and in 1997 one of the planes landed hard, flipped and caught fire while landing in Newark, New Jersey.

Tomoki Kuwano, a former Japan Airlines pilot and aviation expert, said that the MD-11 has a tendency to be unstable during landing. “In the past, the MD-11 has a record of landing failure,” he said. “And when that happens it often flips over.”

FedEx said that it was investigating the cause of the accident. “We will continue to work closely with the applicable authorities as we seek to determine the cause for this tragic incident,” it said in a statement.

Japanese media reported that the crash was the first fatal crash at Narita Airport, a major international hub located about 35 miles (60 kilometers) east of central Tokyo. It is Japan’s second-busiest airport, after Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, which is used primarily for domestic flights.

Times Recommends

• Times Charity Appeal: SolarAid
• Is it Black Monday all over again for Dubai?
• Behind the scenes at the biggest deal