Two airport security staff in Hong Kong lost their lives early on Monday when a cargo plane from Dubai slid off the runway during landing, striking their security patrol vehicle and pushing it into the sea, as reported by the city’s airport operator. The Boeing 747 involved in this tragic incident, the deadliest at the financial hub in over 25 years, also ended up in the water and was partially submerged. However, all four crew members onboard managed to escape unharmed.
The airport personnel were found unresponsive in the water, with one pronounced dead at the scene and the other later at the hospital, according to Steven Yiu, the executive director of airport operations at the Airport Authority Hong Kong. The mishap at the world’s busiest cargo airport involved a plane operated by Turkish freight carrier ACT Airlines on behalf of Emirates, the Dubai-based airline confirmed in a statement.
Investigations are ongoing to determine the precise cause of the crash, with factors such as weather conditions, runway state, aircraft condition, and aircrew actions being examined, Yiu mentioned. The incident took place around 3:50 a.m. local time on Monday.
An air traffic control recording reviewed by Reuters from LiveATC.net revealed that the pilot of the cargo plane had indicated intentions to land on the runway where the accident occurred but did not report any technical issues during the communication. Man Ka-chai, the chief accident and safety investigator for Hong Kong’s Air Accident Investigation Authority, confirmed that air traffic control had instructed the flight to land on the north runway but noted the absence of distress calls from the pilot.
Yiu explained that the security patrol car was on its routine patrol along a road outside the runway fence when the plane unexpectedly veered left after landing, leading to the collision with the vehicle. This deviation from the normal path caused the tragic outcome.
Despite the incident, flights at Hong Kong’s airport remained unaffected, with Yiu assuring that the northern runway, where the accident occurred, would resume operations once safety evaluations were completed. The south and central runways continued normal operations, according to the authority.
Photographs taken after the mishap depicted a cargo aircraft with AirACT branding partially submerged near the airport’s sea wall, showing deployed escape slides and separated nose and tail sections. Emirates disclosed that flight EK9788, a Boeing 747 cargo aircraft wet-leased from and operated by ACT Airlines, sustained damage upon landing in Hong Kong but clarified that the crew was safe and no cargo was onboard.
Although Boeing did not provide an immediate response to requests for comments, ACT Airlines, a Turkish carrier offering additional cargo capacity to major airlines, refrained from commenting outside regular business hours. This incident marked the deadliest airport accident in Hong Kong since 1999 when a China Airlines flight crashed during landing, resulting in the loss of three lives among the 315 people onboard, according to data from the Aviation Safety Network.