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At least two people died after a cargo plane skidded off the runway and crashed into the sea hong kong Airport early Monday.
Police said that Emirates flight EK9788 coming from Dubai went off the runway while landing at Hong Kong International Airport at around 3.50 am local time.
The Boeing 747 cargo plane failed to stop in time and partially landed in the water off the northern runway of the airport, one of the busiest airports in Asia.
Police said the plane hit a ground service vehicle during landing, breaking one of its wheels and plunging into the sea. Two ground staff were inside the vehicle at the time and were initially reported missing.
A 30-year-old member of the ground staff crew was confirmed dead at the scene, while a 41-year-old man was pronounced dead in hospital.
Hong Kong’s Civil Aviation Department said in a statement on Monday that the plane “veered off the north runway after landing and fell into the sea”.
Photographs taken after the incident showed the aircraft partially submerged in water near the airport sea wall, with an escape slide deployed and sections of the nose and tail separated.
At least 213 firefighters and first aid officers were deployed in the rescue operation along with 45 vehicles, ships and a flying service helicopter. The operation continued till morning.
Four crew members had to break down the door before being rescued from the sea.
Airport officials said passenger flight operations in Hong Kong would be unaffected by the cargo plane crash. However, at least 12 cargo flights have been canceled so far.
The northern runway has been closed, while two other runways at the airport continue to operate, officials said.
The city’s civil aviation department said it was contacting the airline and other parties involved in the accident.
Hong Kong authorities said they were trying to retrieve the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder from the sea. BBC News quoted an official as saying that the pace of the investigation “depends on when we find the black box”.
Emirates said in a statement that flight EK9788 was damaged upon landing in Hong Kong and was a Boeing 747 cargo aircraft leased and operated by ACT Airlines. “The crew has been confirmed safe and there was no cargo on board,” Emirates said.
Boeing 747 is a cargo plane Türkiye Air cargo carrier AirACT aircraft are flying for Emirates SkyCargo. It was taking off from Al Maktoum International Airport.
Flight tracking service Flightradar24 said the plane involved in the crash was 32 years old and had served as a passenger plane before being converted into a freighter.