HONG KONG — Two airport security staff were killed early Monday when a cargo plane arriving from Dubai skidded off the runway at Hong Kong International Airport, struck their patrol vehicle, and pushed it into the sea, officials said.
The Boeing 747 aircraft, operated by Turkish freight carrier ACT Airlines on behalf of Emirates, fell partially into the water after landing and was partially submerged. All four crew members escaped unharmed, according to the Airport Authority Hong Kong.
Steven Yiu, executive director of airport operations, said the security staff were pulled from the water without signs of life. “One was confirmed dead at the scene and another later at hospital,” he said.
The crash occurred around 3:50 a.m. local time (1950 GMT Sunday) at the world’s busiest cargo airport, marking Hong Kong’s deadliest airport incident in more than 25 years.
Authorities have launched a full investigation into the cause, examining weather conditions, runway surface, the aircraft, and the actions of the aircrew, Yiu said.
An air traffic control recording reviewed by Reuters indicated the plane’s pilot confirmed plans to land on runway 07L, where the accident occurred. No technical problems were reported before landing. “An incident happened at the airfield just now,” a controller was heard saying minutes after the landing.
Man Ka-chai, chief accident and safety investigator at the Air Accident Investigation Authority, confirmed the aircraft had been directed to the north runway. “We didn’t receive any message requesting help from the pilot,” he said.
Yiu added that the patrol car was operating “in its usual area” along a service road outside the runway fence and “definitely didn’t rush onto the runway.”
The Airport Authority said the north runway will reopen once safety inspections are completed. The south and central runways remain fully operational, and flights have not been disrupted.
Photos from the scene showed the AirACT-branded cargo plane partially submerged near the airport’s seawall, its escape slide deployed, and nose and tail sections separated.
In a statement, Hong Kong’s Civil Aviation Department said the aircraft “deviated from the north runway after landing and ditched into the sea.”
Emirates confirmed that flight EK9788, a Boeing 747 cargo jet leased from ACT Airlines, sustained damage during landing. “Crew are confirmed to be safe and there was no cargo onboard,” the airline said.
Flight tracking service FlightRadar24 reported that the aircraft was 32 years old and had been converted from a passenger jet into a freighter.
Yiu said the airport authority will assist the victims’ families, noting that the two employees had served at the airport for seven and 12 years, respectively.
According to the Aviation Safety Network, the last fatal airport crash in Hong Kong occurred in 1999, when a China Airlines flight crashed during landing, killing three of the 315 people on board.
