2 airport workers killed as cargo plane overshoots HK runway

International

TWO airport security staff were killed early Monday after a cargo plane veered off a runway at Hong Kong International Airport, collided with their patrol vehicle, and plunged into the sea in one of the city’s deadliest aviation incidents in decades.

Authorities said Emirates flight EK9788, a Boeing 747 cargo aircraft arriving from Dubai, was attempting to land at around 3:50 a.m. local time when it suddenly skidded off the north runway.

In a report by BBC, the aircraft broke through perimeter fencing, struck a patrol car stationed outside the runway, and pushed it into the nearby waters.

The two men inside the patrol vehicle, aged 30 and 41, were pulled from the submerged car about five meters from shore and seven meters underwater.

The younger staff member was pronounced dead at the scene, while the other died later at the hospital. Both were long-time employees with seven and twelve years of service, respectively.

All four crew members aboard the plane survived and were rescued shortly after opening the aircraft’s emergency exits.

The plane, which was wet-leased by Emirates from Turkish carrier ACT Airlines, sustained extensive structural damage, with photos showing the fuselage torn apart and partly submerged.

Airport operations executive director Steven Yiu said the patrol car had been driving “at a safe distance from the runway” when the plane unexpectedly veered off course.

“Normally, the plane is not supposed to turn toward the sea,” Yiu said at a press briefing, adding that the crew did not issue any distress signal before the crash.

Officials stressed that the airport vehicle “definitely did not run out onto the runway,” suggesting that the aircraft’s deviation from its intended path would be central to the investigation.

The probe will look into weather conditions, the runway’s surface, the plane’s mechanical state, and possible human factors.

Divers are continuing to search the area for the flight’s black boxes — the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder — which are expected to shed light on the moments leading to the crash.

Hong Kong’s Transport and Logistics Bureau expressed condolences to the families of the two victims, saying it was “deeply saddened” by their deaths. Emirates also confirmed that the crew were safe and that “no cargo was onboard” during the incident.

The affected runway remains closed, with at least 11 incoming cargo flights canceled, though the airport’s two other runways are operational.

The crash is the second fatal incident to occur at Hong Kong International Airport since its relocation to Chek Lap Kok in 1998.

The first was in 1999, when a China Airlines passenger jet crash-landed during a typhoon, killing three people.(Ma. Victoria Diana, USJ-R Comm Intern)