A tragic incident unfolded early Monday morning at Hong Kong International Airport when an Emirates cargo plane veered off the runway, colliding with a patrol vehicle and plunging into the sea. This devastating accident claimed the lives of two airport ground crew members who were inside the vehicle, according to local officials.
Flight UAE9788, a Boeing 747-400 cargo aircraft originating from Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai, skidded into the waters surrounding the airport’s north runway around 3:50 a.m. The precise cause of this alarming deviation remains undetermined at this time.
The force of the impact propelled the patrol car into the sea. Rescuers bravely worked to extract the ground crew members from the submerged vehicle. Steven Yiu, the airport’s executive director of operations, confirmed the fatalities during a subsequent news briefing.
The two victims were identified as men, aged 41 and 30, with seven and twelve years of dedicated service at the airport, respectively.
Fortunately, all four crew members aboard the cargo plane were successfully rescued and promptly transported to a local hospital for medical attention.
Following the harrowing event, the airport’s north runway was immediately closed. Disturbing images from the scene show the aircraft partially submerged in the sea. Air traffic was redirected to the airport’s two other operational runways, Mr. Yiu stated.
The Civil Aviation Department has launched a full investigation into the crash.
Remarkably, the aircraft reportedly did not transmit any distress signals prior to landing. It had already completed nearly half its taxiing distance on the runway before inexplicably veering off course and striking the patrol car, Mr. Liu elaborated.
He emphasized, “The patrol car unequivocally did not overrun the runway; it was the aircraft that overran the runway and collided with the patrol car.”
Emirates has issued a statement clarifying that the Boeing 747-400 was leased and operated by Act Airlines, a Turkish firm, and was not carrying any cargo at the time of the incident.
This incident follows a similar, though less severe, event in September when a Hong Kong Express Airbus A320-232 passenger jet overran the same runway onto a grassy area during a typhoon landing. No injuries were reported in that earlier incident, which is also currently under investigation.