There was an aircraft failure and return incident at the airport yesterday.
On the afternoon of the 16th Hong Kong time, it was reported that a Cathay Pacific cargo plane from Hong Kong to Delhi, India, turned back due to a failure and reported to the control tower of the Hong Kong International Airport at about 1 p.m. The firefighter was alerted.
It is understood that the Boeing 747-400ERF cargo plane landed on the southern runway at a speed of more than 170 knots, that is, more than 300 kilometers per hour. Fortunately, the four crew members on the plane were unharmed.
However, the landing gear of the cargo plane was damaged and it could not be towed away until it was left on the southern runway for nearly two hours.
During this period, all aircraft failed to take off and land, the airport was "paralyzed", and several flights had to diverted to neighboring airports.
It is reported that the cargo aircraft involved is Cathay Pacific CX043, from Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok International Airport (HKG) to Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL), the cargo aircraft model is Boeing 747-467F (ER), the registration number is B-LIE .
Checking the flight tracking website Flightradar24 data, the cargo plane departed from Hong Kong Airport Runway 07R at around 10 a.m. local time on the 16th and flew westward along the South China Sea, passing over Leizhou Peninsula and Hainan Island. However, the freighter arrived at around 11:30 local time. When flying over the border between Vietnam and Laos, the crew found that the aircraft was malfunctioning and had to turn back the same way.
At about 1 pm local time, the CX043 cargo plane flew over to the south of Hong Kong, and after entering the Hong Kong Flight Information Region, the crew immediately notified the Hong Kong Airport Control Tower.
The fire department issued a "partial alert" in response to the report.
At about 1:42, the cargo plane landed on runway 07R (south runway) of Hong Kong Airport at a speed of over 170 knots, that is, over 310 kilometers per hour.
It is understood that the normal landing speed of a 747 aircraft is about 130 knots, which is about 240 kilometers per hour.
After the cargo plane touched the ground, it taxied about four-fifths of the runway before it came to a complete stop.
The emergency vehicle immediately drove to the cargo plane. After confirmation, it was learned that none of the four crew members on board were injured.
However, there was a problem with the landing gear of the cargo plane, which made it difficult to drive away immediately or even towed away.
Check the airport's automatic terminal intelligence system. Another runway (07C/25C) of the airport was closed due to maintenance. Therefore, all aircraft at Hong Kong Airport were unable to take off and land at that time. Until about 3:35 pm, the CX043 freighter succeeded. After being towed away, the runway resumed takeoff and landing.
It is understood that during the accident, multiple flights arriving in Hong Kong had to be diverted to airports in Taiwan, Macau and Shenzhen.
The DA42 training aircraft of the Hong Kong Government Flying Service that took off earlier had to circle above the airport and wait for landing.
The DA42 training machine of GFS took a lap over Hong Kong.
(Image source: Flightradar24.com)
In response to media enquiries, the Civil Aviation Department pointed out that yesterday there were 6 scheduled flights to Hong Kong International Airport that had to be diverted to Macau, Taipei and Shenzhen due to the incident.
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