Hong Kong runway to reopen after crash, won't be used regularly for now

Hong Kong authorities on Tuesday were preparing to reopen the runway where a cargo aircraft crashed a day ago, but said it would remain out of regular use until wreckage from the accident was fully cleared.

The Boeing 747 flown by Turkey-based ACT Airlines flight from Dubai skidded off to the left after landing in the early hours of Monday and collided with a patrol car, causing both to fall into the sea. Two workers in the car were found dead, while four crew members on the plane had no apparent injuries.

Repairs to the runway and damaged fencing have been completed, Steven Yiu, the airport authority's executive director for airport operations, told Radio Television Hong Kong. He added that that investigators had collected initial evidence at the scene.

But Yiu said the plane's cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder have not yet been retrieved.

Authorities were aiming to put the runway on standby status, which means that it can be used for landings but will not be included in regular flight planning, from Tuesday noon.

The aircraft was being operated under lease by Emirates, a long-haul carrier based in Dubai.

Yiu said that the runway will remain on standby until the wreckage is fully cleared from the nearby sea.

Hong Kong authorities were in contact with barge companies to plan for the clearance but they could not begin removal work while Tropical Storm Fengshen was still affecting the city, he said. He said the airport planned to remove the wreckage and the car and complete other related work within a week, depending on weather.

Investigators will continue collecting evidence after the clearance as they continue working to determine the cause of the crash.

Yiu said both weather and runway conditions met standards during the incident, while mechanical and human factors were yet to be investigated.

Monday's crash marked the second fatal incident for ACT Airlines. In 2017, a Boeing 747 flown by ACT Airlines under the name MyCargo crashed as it prepared to land in fog in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, killing all four crew on board and 35 people on the ground. ACT Airlines flew that route from Hong Kong on behalf of Turkish Airlines.

A later report on the crash by Kyrgyz authorities blamed the flight crew for misjudging the plane's position while landing in poor weather. The crew was tired and had a heated exchange with air-traffic control before the crash, the report said.