Two airport security personnel in Hong Kong lost their lives in a tragic incident early on Monday when a cargo plane arriving from Dubai veered off the runway, striking their security vehicle and pushing it into the sea, as reported by the city’s airport operator. This marked the deadliest airport incident in Hong Kong in over 25 years. The Boeing 747 involved in the accident also ended up in the water, partially submerged, but all four crew members aboard managed to escape unharmed.
Upon rescue from the water, the airport security staff were found unresponsive, with one pronounced dead at the scene and the other succumbing to injuries later at the hospital, according to Steven Yiu, the executive director of airport operations at Airport Authority Hong Kong. The mishap, which took place 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.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation by authorities, with factors such as weather conditions, runway state, aircraft condition, and the aircrew being scrutinized, Yiu mentioned. The incident occurred at around 3:50 a.m. local time on Monday.
An air traffic control recording examined by Reuters from LiveATC.net revealed that the pilot of the cargo plane had indicated plans to land on runway 07L, where the incident unfolded, without reporting any technical issues during the communication. Man Ka-chai, the chief accident and safety investigator for Hong Kong’s Air Accident Investigation Authority, verified that air traffic control had instructed the flight to land on the north runway but received no distress signal from the pilot.
Yiu clarified that the security patrol car was on its regular patrol duty along a road outside the runway fence when the accident occurred. He emphasized that the vehicle did not breach its designated area and was not on the runway intentionally. The aircraft unexpectedly veered left after landing, deviating from its normal path and colliding with the security vehicle, Yiu added.
Despite the incident, flight operations at Hong Kong’s airport remained unaffected, as confirmed by Yiu, who assured that the northern runway, where the accident happened, would resume operations after safety checks. The southern and central runways continued to operate normally, as per the airport authority.
Images captured post-accident depicted a cargo aircraft with AirACT branding partially submerged near the airport’s sea wall, with an escape slide deployed and the fuselage split into nose and tail sections. Emirates disclosed that flight EK9788, a Boeing 747 cargo aircraft, sustained damage upon landing in Hong Kong, operated by ACT Airlines under a wet-lease agreement, with the crew reported safe and no cargo onboard.
Boeing and ACT Airlines did not provide immediate responses to requests for comments. This incident marked the deadliest airport accident in Hong Kong since 1999 when a China Airlines flight crashed during landing, claiming the lives of three out of the 315 occupants, according to data from the Aviation Safety Network.