A cargo aircraft skids off a Hong Kong runway into the sea, killing 2 airport workers

HONG KONG AP A cargo aircraft skidded off a Hong Kong runway and collided with a defense patrol car before both fell into the sea early Monday killing the two people in the car officers disclosed The plane s four crew members were unhurt The Boeing flown by Turkey-based ACT Airlines was landing at Hong Kong International Airport around a m on arrival from Dubai United Arab Emirates The aircraft was being operated under lease by Emirates a long-haul carrier based in Dubai The captains did not seek help before landing and had taxied about halfway down the runway before skidding off it to the left Steven Yiu the airport authority s executive director in airport operations announced during a press conference The patrol car absolutely did not rush onto the runway It was the plane that went off the runway and crashed into the patrol car outside the fence he declared When rescue crews arrived the plane was broken into two parts floating in the sea and the four crew members were waiting to be rescued at its open door explained Yiu Men-yeung a fire services official The four crew members had no apparent injuries disclosed Tong Sze-ho acting senior assistant chief ambulance officer of the fire services department Rescuers dove into the sea and identified the two defense workers trapped in the car after a -minute search Yiu Men-yeung revealed Local television images at midmorning exhibited the aircraft partially submerged just off the edge of the airport s sea wall The aircraft s front half and cockpit were visible above water but the tail end appearing to have broken off Two boats possibly with search and rescue personnel were near the aircraft The crash occurred on the north runway of Hong Kong s airport one of Asia s busiest That runway remained closed while the two other runways at the airport continue to operate Steven Yiu commented flights at the airport would be unaffected Weather was suitable at the time the plane landed and the cause of the crash was being investigated he announced The Air Accident Scrutiny Authority classified the matter as an accident with the examination to look into multiple factors including the flight s system operation and maintenance The cockpit voice recorder and the flight material recorder were being sought Emirates mentioned the Boeing freighter flying as EK was wet leased and operated by ACT Airlines In wet leases the company supplying the plane also provides the crew maintenance and insurance Emirates explained there was no cargo on board The aircraft was years old according to Flightradar Hong Kong International Airport was built on reclaimed land by merging two smaller islands north of Hong Kong s Lantau Island in the South China Sea at the mouth of the Pearl River The edge of the north runway lies only a meager hundred meters yards from the water while the other two runways are even closer Emirates the Dubai-based long haul carrier is known for its tourist flights coming out of Dubai International Airport the world s busiest for international passage However it also operates a thriving cargo business out of Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central the sheikhdom s second airport where it plans a billion improvement over the coming decade The ACT Airlines flight had taken off from Al Maktoum known as DWC Emirates owned by a sovereign wealth fund in the city-state noted in its most-recent annual summary that it had added two wet-leased Boeing s to serve surging customer demand Emirates has chosen aircraft in its fleet the majority either Boeing s or double-decker Airbus A s