Tokyo’s Narita international airport reopened its main runway Tuesday, freeing up desperately needed capacity at Japan’s busiest international airport a day after a FedEx cargo plane crashed in a ball of fire, killing two US pilots. Workers overnight cleared the charred wreckage of the MD-11 from the crash site near the 4,000-metre Runway A, which usually handles more than 350 flights a day. The runway, the longer of two at Narita International Airport was reopened shortly after 9 am (0010 GMT) Tuesday, after its closure disrupted thousands of passengers. Narita has a daily average of more than 90,000 passengers. The crash on Monday morning saw the FedEx plane bounce twice on the runway before veering in high winds, flipping over and exploding in a ball of fire. It was Narita’s first fatal accident since it opened nearly three decades ago. Japanese air crash investigators said they had recovered the flight data and voice recorders. US investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration were due to arrive Tuesday evening. A FedEx executive also flew into Narita on Tuesday. Japan’s meteorological agency had issued an advisory of gales for the area around the airport and had notified airlines of possible wind shear – a condition in which wind speed and direction can suddenly change.