Hong Kong: two killed after cargo plane veers off runway into sea while landing | Hong Kong

Two people were killed in Hong Kong after a cargo plane hit a ground vehicle while trying to land and skidded off the runway into the sea.

The Emirates airlines plane had flown in to Hong Kong international airport from Dubai at about 4am on Monday when it veered off the runway and crashed through a fence, according to airport officials. It then collided with the security patrol car, taking the vehicle with it as it ditched into the sea.

Authorities said rescuers retrieved two men from the sunken car but a 30-year-old man was declared dead at the scene and the other, aged 41, died after he was taken to hospital.

Footage of the crash shows the Boeing’s fuselage partly submerged in the water. More than 200 rescue personnel were dispatched to the crash, close to shore in water about 7 metres deep. It took about 40 minutes to retrieve the two airport workers from the sunken vehicle, a fire services official said. The plane had broken in two, and four crew were evacuated. Emirates said there was no cargo onboard and the crew were confirmed to be safe.

City officials have announced an investigation into the crash, one of the most serious incidents recorded at the airport. Police also said they had not ruled out a criminal investigation of the incident.

Steven Yiu, the executive director of airport operations at Hong Kong’s Airport Authority, said weather and runway conditions at the time of the crash were safe and met “all conditions for runway operation”. Yiu also noted that the security car was “absolutely not near the runway” and had been patrolling the perimeter outside the fence when it was hit by the plane.

Airport officials provided a diagram showing the plane abruptly turning left halfway down the length of the runway, and said the plane did not send an emergency signal and gave no reply when radioed by the airport.

Emirates said in a statement that flight EK9788 sustained damage on landing in Hong Kong on Monday and was a Boeing 747 cargo aircraft wet-leased from and operated by the Turkish company ACT Airlines.

The airport’s north runway was closed temporarily, but two others remained operating. A dozen cargo flights were reportedly cancelled but passenger flights were unaffected. Hong Kong is one of the world’s busiest airports for cargo.