Two die as cargo plane skids off Hong Kong runway into sea

A cargo aircraft flying from Dubai skidded off the runway into the sea while landing at Hong Kong International Airport, the city’s airport operator said Monday, with local media reporting the deaths of two people.

What do we know about the Hong Kong flight incident?

The flight was landing at around 3:50 a.m. (1950 GMT on Sunday), Hong Kong’s airport authority reported.

Four crew members were rescued and taken to hospital. But police said initial reports suggested two people on an airport ground vehicle were confirmed dead.

Hong Kong’s Civil Aviation Department said in a statement on Monday that the aircraft had “deviated from the north runway after landing and ditched into the sea.”

“Two ground staff were affected and fell into the sea, and their conditions are pending confirmation.”

Emergency personnel were on the scene

The northern runway has been closed, the airport said, adding the south and central runways would continue to operate.

Flightradar24 said the aircraft that went off the runway in Hong Kong was a Boeing 747 freighter.

The flight-tracking service posted on X that the aircraft belonged to AirACT, a Turkish airline that provides extra cargo capacity to major carriers. It was flying from Dubai for Emirates SkyCargo, with the flight number EK9788.

Emirates said in a statement that flight EK9788, a Boeing 747 cargo aircraft wet-leased from and operated by ACT Airlines, sustained damage on landing in Hong Kong on Monday, adding that “crew are confirmed to be safe and there was no cargo
onboard.”