UK crash airport resumes flights

BIRMINGHAM, England -- An English airport has reopened two days after a private plane crash in which five people died.

Birmingham International Airport resumed normal flights on Sunday with little further disruption expected, airport officials said.

About 400 flights had to be cancelled or diverted to nearby airports and 30,000 passengers affected, mainly skiers heading for the slopes, while air investigators sifted through the crash wreckage.

Five people, including two senior executives with the agricultural equipment giant AGCO Corporation and three crew, all from the U.S., died on Friday after their plane burst into flames on take-off.

Investigators are still examining the evidence and any information which can be taken from the two flight recorders, which have been recovered, to determine the cause of the accident.

The airport in central England, Britain's fifth largest, was reopened at 11.55 a.m. after a final safety inspection.

Witnesses said they saw the twin-engined Canadair Challenger plane's wing hit the ground before bursting into flames while taking off on its journey to the U.S..

The passengers were identified as John Shumejda, 56, and Ed Swingle, 60 -- president and senior vice president of sales respectively for the Georgia, U.S.- based AGCO Corporation.

They had been visiting the UK arm of the company, Massey Ferguson, for a regular meeting of senior management.

Georgia-based Epps Aviation said the three crew members were its employees Thomas Boydston, 51, Robert Norton, 58 and Timothy Vandevort, 41.

The Challenger, capable of carrying up to 20 people, was heading for Bangor, Maine, where it was scheduled to refuel.