Two dead as cargo flight from Dubai skids off Hong Kong runway into sea

A cargo aircraft operated for Emirates airline skidded into the sea after hitting a ground crew vehicle when landing at Hong Kong International Airport, killing two people.

The accident occurred at about 3.50am Hong Kong time on Monday during challenging weather.

The four crew members on the plane, which had taken off in Dubai, broke open the door and were rescued, Airport Authority Hong Kong said.

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Two people, aged 30 and 41, are confirmed dead after the plane collided with an airport security car.

The 32-year-old aircraft was flown by Turkish freight carrier AirACT on behalf of Emirates from Al Maktoum International Airport. It was being operated as Emirates SkyCargo Flight 9788. The crew are not Emirates employees, the carrier said.

One of the three runways at the airport – one of the busiest in Asia – was temporarily closed.

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, said 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 said.

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, said Yiu Men-yeung, a fire services official.

A photo posted by AirNavRadar showed a partially submerged Boeing 747 with its rear, including the tail fin, missing.

In a statement, Emirates said: “Emirates confirms that EK9788, which sustained damage on landing in Hong Kong on 20 October 2025, was a cargo aircraft leased from, and operated by, Act Airlines.

“The aircraft is a Boeing 747-400 with registration TC-ACF. Crew are confirmed to be safe, and there was no cargo onboard.”

The accident would mark one of the most serious in the airport’s 27-year history. In 1999, three people died when a China Airlines flight crashed while landing during a typhoon and flipped upside down.

Monday’s accident echoes another China Airlines accident at the city’s old Kai Tak Airport when a 747 overran the runway during typhoon conditions. The jet was submerged in water beyond the end of the runway, with about two dozen passengers and crew injured.