By Danny Lee
A cargo aircraft operated for Emirates Airlines skidded off a runway into the sea while landing at Hong Kong International Airport on Monday, killing two airport security staff on the ground.
The accident occurred about 3.50am Hong Kong time (6.50am AEDT) during challenging weather conditions. The four crew members of the Boeing 747 aircraft, which had taken off in Dubai, were rescued and taken to hospital, according to a statement from the Airport Authority Hong Kong.
Airport operations executive director Steven Yiu told reporters that the plane went off the runway upon landing and “crashed through the fencing”.
The 32-year-old Boeing 747 was part-submerged close to the runway.
“Unfortunately, an airport security patrol car was there at that time. The aircraft collided with the patrol car and pushed the car into the sea”, he told a press conference.
One of the three runways at the airport – one of the busiest in Asia – has temporarily closed.
A photo posted by AirNavRadar showed the partially submerged aircraft with its rear, including the tailfin, missing.
The plane was flown by Turkish freight carrier AirACT on behalf of Emirates from Dubai Al Maktoum International Airport, with the flight code EK9788.
Emirates said in a statement that flight EK9788 sustained damage on landing in Hong Kong on Monday and was a Boeing 747 cargo aircraft leased from and operated by ACT Airlines.
“Crew are confirmed to be safe and there was no cargo onboard,” Emirates said.
ACT Airlines is a Turkish carrier that provides extra cargo capacity to major airlines. It did not respond immediately to a request for comment outside normal business hours.
The Boeing 747-400 plane was delivered new as a passenger airliner to Japan’s All Nippon Airways in June 1993 before being sold and converted for cargo use in 2011, according to Jetphotos.com.
The accident would mark one of the most serious in the Hong Kong International Airport’s 27-year history. In 1999, three people died when a China Airlines flight crashed while landing during a typhoon and flipped upside down.
Monday’s accident echoes another China Airlines accident at the city’s old Kai Tak Airport when a 747 overran the runway during typhoon conditions. The jet was submerged in water beyond the end of the runway, with about two dozen passengers and crew injured.
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