In a devastating incident early Monday morning, a cargo aircraft veered off the runway at Hong Kong International Airport and plunged into the adjacent sea, resulting in the tragic deaths of two ground personnel. The Emirates flight EK9788, arriving from Dubai, lost control around 3:50 a.m. local time (7:50 p.m. GMT) and collided with a patrol vehicle positioned near the runway, according to reports from the BBC.
Airport authorities confirmed that the two individuals inside the patrol car, both part of the ground operations team, were killed instantly. Fortunately, the four crew members aboard the Boeing 747 cargo plane escaped unharmed. Officials have initiated a comprehensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding the accident, labeling it one of the most severe aviation tragedies Hong Kong has faced in recent years.
Steven Yiu, the airport’s operations director, explained that the patrol vehicle was traveling on a service road safely distanced from the runway when the aircraft unexpectedly deviated from its landing trajectory, breached the perimeter fencing, and struck the vehicle, pushing it into the water. “Aircraft are not expected to veer toward the sea during landing,” Yiu stated, emphasizing that the patrol car had not entered the runway at any point.
Emergency responders reached the scene promptly, and divers later retrieved the bodies of the two ground staff members, aged 30 and 41, both seasoned employees with seven and twelve years of experience respectively. Photographs from the crash site reveal the plane fractured into two sections, with part of the fuselage submerged. One of the emergency evacuation slides deployed successfully, enabling the crew to evacuate before being rescued by firefighters.
Emirates issued a statement confirming the aircraft sustained damage upon landing but clarified that no cargo was onboard and all crew members are safe. The flight was operated under a wet lease agreement by Turkish airline ACT Airlines, meaning the plane was flown by ACT’s crew but under Emirates branding.
The Hong Kong Transport Bureau expressed deep sorrow over the fatalities and extended heartfelt condolences to the families affected. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Air Accident Investigation Authority (AAIA) has commenced efforts to locate the aircraft’s black boxes-the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder-believed to have sunk near the crash site.
As a result of the accident, at least 11 cargo flights scheduled for Monday were canceled, with one runway remaining closed for ongoing investigations. This incident marks only the second fatal aviation accident since the airport’s relocation from Kai Tak to Chek Lap Kok in 1998. The previous fatal event occurred in 1999 when a China Airlines passenger jet crash-landed during a typhoon, resulting in three fatalities.
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