Two dead after plane runs off runway and ploughs into ground-service vehicle at Hong Kong Airport before crashing into the sea

Two people have been killed after a cargo plane flying from Dubai slid off the runway and plunged into the sea immediately after landing at Hong Kong International Airport on Monday morning. 

The accident occurred around 3:50 a.m. Hong Kong time and the airport confirmed the aircraft was carrying an Emirates flight number.

The Boeing 747 freighter failed to stop in time and partially landed in the waters off the airport’s north runway, after colliding with a ground vehicle, the South China Morning Post reports.   

Two men who were in the ground vehicle have been confirmed dead, while four crew members on board the plane were rescued, the international airport said in the statement. 

Flightradar24, a flight-tracking service, said on X the plane belonged to AirACT, a Turkish airline that provides extra cargo capacity to major carriers.

According to the Airport Authority, one of the three runways at the airport has been temporarily closed, while helicopters have been deployed to assist in the search and rescue operation. 

Pictures shared on social media and on media outlets show an aircraft partially submerged in water. 

The terrifying incident comes just days after a budget airline jet almost dived into the sea at 300mph just moments after taking off from an Italian holiday island on Friday.

Eleven seconds after take-off from Catania Airport, an Airbus A320 operated by Air Arabia lost altitude and fell through the air, falling to less than 200ft above the water.

The plane then managed to quickly regain altitude and continued the flight from Catania, the second largest city on the Italian island of Sicily.

The Italian National Agency for Flight Safety (ANSV) has opened an investigation into the ‘serious incident’.

It’s currently unclear why the jet, which had no passengers, two pilots, and four flight attendants on board, operated in such an usual way and at the excessive speed.

The plane was on its way to Amman, the capital of Jordan.

Shortly after take-off, the ANSV reported that a Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) pull-up message was activated, according to Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera.

The GPWS issues alarms when there is a risk of a dangerous collision between the plane and terrain.

The Boeing 747 freighter can be seen in this graphic hovering over the water

‘This occurred as the aircraft approached the sea surface, to within a short distance,’ the agency continued.

The incident occurred at 11.57pm on September 20, when the plane began an unexpected descent, reaching dangerously close to the water in good weather conditions.

The situation was immediately considered dangerous but quickly resolved, and the flight reached its destination at 2.52am Italian time with no further incident, according to ANSV.

The agency said it opened an investigation ‘after a preliminary review of the information received from the operator’.

Pilots will be required to recount details of their version of events, which will be cross-referenced with data from onboard systems.

Possible explanations for the incident include an error in calculating the takeoff weights or a faulty maneuver by the pilots.