Tragedy struck at Hong Kong International Airport on Monday when a cargo plane veered off the runway during landing, collided with a security patrol car, and plunged into the sea, killing two men inside the vehicle.
Airport officials said the Boeing aircraft, arriving from Dubai, overshot the north runway around 4 a.m. local time before breaking through the perimeter fence and ending up partly submerged in the surrounding waters. Dramatic images showed the plane’s fuselage lodged in the shallows with its evacuation slide deployed.
Steven Yiu, Executive Director of Airport Operations at the Airport Authority Hong Kong, confirmed that the patrol car was positioned outside the runway area when the plane struck it. “It was the aircraft that veered off the runway to hit the patrol car, which was outside the fence,” Yiu explained.
Rescue divers recovered the bodies of the two men, aged 30 and 41, from the sunken vehicle roughly five metres from the shore. One died at the scene, while the other was pronounced dead after being taken to hospital.
Emirates Airlines, which leased the aircraft from Turkey-based Act Airlines under a short-term “wet lease,” said the crew members were safe and there was no cargo onboard at the time.
Officials confirmed that runway and weather conditions were normal during the landing, and the aircraft did not issue an emergency signal before the crash. A diagram released by authorities showed the plane making a sudden left turn midway along the runway.
The airport’s north runway was temporarily closed following the incident, though the other two remained operational. Authorities said overall airport activity was not expected to be disrupted.
The Air Accident Investigation Authority has launched a full probe, while police say a criminal investigation has not been ruled out. Helicopters and rescue boats were deployed to the site as part of the emergency response.
Hong Kong’s airport, one of the world’s busiest cargo hubs, recently expanded with a third runway costing HK$142 billion ($18 billion). The facility has been in operation since 1998.
