Stuart Lausingapore and
martin mouthHong Kong
Early Monday morning, a cargo plane skidded off the runway at Hong Kong International Airport and landed in the sea, killing two ground staff.
Emirates flight EK9788 was arriving from Dubai at approximately 03:50 local time (19:50 GMT) when it veered off the runway and collided with an airport patrol vehicle.
At the time of the accident, two vehicle occupants died, and four crew members on board the plane survived.
This is one of the deadliest aviation accidents in Hong Kong in years. The city’s international airport has a good safety record.
Authorities have launched an investigation as questions remain about the route the plane took when it landed.
Airport officials said the cargo plane had been given the correct directions and there were signs on the runway to guide the plane.
Steven Yiu, the airport’s executive director of operations, said the patrol car was traveling on the road outside the runway fence at the time, a safe distance from the runway.
The plane then veered off the runway. According to Mr Yiu, the vehicle crashed through a fence and was pushed into the sea.
He emphasized that the car “definitely did not bounce onto the tarmac.”
“Normally, airplanes should not turn toward the sea,” Yu said at a press conference hours after the incident, adding that the plane did not send a distress signal when it landed.
Divers found the bodies of the patrol car passengers in the sea.
According to officials, the two Dead Ground employees were 30 and 41 years old, respectively. They had 7 and 12 years of experience, respectively.
The Hong Kong Transport Department expressed condolences to the bereaved families, saying it was “saddened” by their deaths.
An Emirates spokesperson said in a statement to the BBC: “The flight sustained sustained damage as it landed in Hong Kong. The crew were found safe and there was no cargo on board.”
It was also revealed that the Boeing 747-481 cargo plane was leased and operated by Turkish airline Act Airlines. A wet lease is an agreement in which one airline provides aircraft, crew, and insurance to another airline.
The four crew members on board the plane broke open the plane’s emergency door immediately after the crash. They were discovered and rescued by firefighters who arrived at the scene within two minutes.
Photos showed the plane broken in half and parts of the fuselage submerged in water with large visible cracks. At least one emergency evacuation slide was successfully deployed.
A police official told the media: “A criminal investigation will not be ruled out.”
An official from the Hong Kong Air Accident Investigation Agency (AAIA) said the search for the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, also known as black boxes, at sea is still ongoing.
The affected runway will be closed throughout the day, but the airport’s other two runways remain operational.
At least 11 cargo flights originally scheduled to arrive at Hong Kong International Airport on Monday were canceled, according to the airport authority’s website.
This is the second fatal incident to occur at Hong Kong International Airport since it was moved from Kai Tak to Chek Lap Kok in July 1998.
In August 1999, a China Airlines plane crashed due to a typhoon, killing three people.
