Two dead after cargo jet skids into the sea at Hong Kong airport

[HONG KONG] A cargo aircraft skidded off the runway into the ocean at Hong Kong airport early Monday (Oct 20), killing two ground crew in a patrol car, in one of the worst accidents in the airport’s 27-year history. 

The incident occurred around 3.50 am Hong Kong time. The four crew members on the plane, which was operated by Turkey’s AirACT on behalf of Emirates Airlines, were rescued and taken to the hospital. 

At a briefing hours after the incident, Airport Authority Hong Kong, which operates the airport, said the weather and runway conditions were suitable for flight operations at the time of the accident, but gave little detail on how the accident occurred. Hong Kong’s Air Accident Investigation Authority (AAIA) will now investigate the cause of the crash.

The AAIA is still searching for the plane’s black boxes, including the flight data recorder and cabin recorder. 

One of the three runways at the airport – one of the busiest in Asia – was temporarily closed, though the airport authority said the more than 1,000 flights scheduled for Monday would operate as normal. 

In a statement, Emirates said the plane was wet leased from, and operated by, Act Airlines. The crew are confirmed to be safe and there was no cargo onboard. In wet leases, the company supplying the plane also provides the crew and maintenance. 

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The 32-year-old plane had taken off from Dubai’s Al Maktoum International Airport, with flight code EK9788. 

The accident marks one of the most serious at the airport. In 1999, three people died when a China Airlines flight crashed while landing during a typhoon and flipped upside down. 

Monday’s incident echoes another China Airlines accident at the city’s old Kai Tak Airport when a 747 overran the runway during typhoon conditions. The jet was submerged in water beyond the end of the runway, with around two dozen passengers and crew injured.