A cargo plane, on a wet lease to Emirates from Turkey’s ACT Airlines, skidded off the runway and killed two people in a security car after colliding with it and falling into the sea.
It was only the second fatal accident at Hong Kong International Airport since it was Kai Tak to Chek Lap Kok in July 1998. The only other deadly accident was in August 1999, when a China Airlines passenger flight crash-landed during a typhoon, killing three people.
According to a BBC report, Hong Kong police said a criminal investigation into the accident is not ruled out, while a Hong Kong Air Accident Investigation Authority (AAIA) official said they were still trying to locate the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder from the accident site.
An Emirates spokesperson confirmed to the BBC that the plane sustained damage on landing in Hong Kong, and added that the “crew are confirmed to be safe and there was no cargo onboard”.
The Boeing 747-481 cargo aircraft, 32 years old as per Flightradar24 data, was wet leased by Emirates. Under a wet lease agreement, the owner supplies the aircraft as well as at least one crew member. The owner assumes operational responsibility, which includes performing maintenance, procuring insurance, and other legal responsibilities of operations.
Flying as EK9788, the plane had taken off from Dubai’s Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central and was landing at HKIA around 3:50am.
Steven Yiu, the airport authority’s executive director in airport operations, said the captains did not seek help before landing and had taxied about halfway down the runway before skidding off.
When rescue crews arrived, the plane was broken into two parts, floating in the sea, and the four crew members were waiting to be rescued at its open door. They had not sustained any major injuries.
The plane turned away from the runway, crashed through the fencing and collided with the vehicle, pushing it into the sea, Yiu said, insisting that the security patrol car “definitely did not run out onto the runway”.
The affected runway was closed for the day following the accident, but the airport’s other two runways are still in operation.
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