Copyright hongkongfp
Salvage work for a cargo plane involved in a crash that killed two at Hong Kong International Airport last week is expected to be completed on Monday evening. The Airport Authority (AA) said on Sunday evening that workers had lifted the main fuselage of the Boeing aircraft from the water and placed it on a barge. One of the plane’s engines and the landing gear were removed on Saturday, while the black box flight recorders were retrieved the night before. Recovery efforts are underway following Hong Kong’s worst aviation incident in 26 years. In the early hours of October 20, an Air ACT cargo plane veered off the runway and collided with a stationary patrol vehicle while landing at the Hong Kong airport. See also: No distress signal from cargo plane crashing into sea at Hong Kong airport, killing 2, official says Both the cargo plane and the patrol vehicle fell into the sea. Four crew members on board the aircraft were evacuated via an emergency slide and sent to hospital. However, both ground staff members were later confirmed dead. One ground worker was certified dead at sea, and another at the hospital. Two ships deployed by the Guangzhou Salvage Bureau are assisting the AA in the recovery work. The two vessels, called Nan Tian Xiang and Nan Tian Peng, have a maximum lifting capacity of 350 and 500 tonnes, respectively, according to the authority. Condolences to victims’ families The crash is the deadliest since 1999, when a China Airlines flight from Bangkok flipped over and caught fire while landing, killing three on board. The Boeing 747-481, en route from Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai, was operated by Turkish carrier Air ACT. The plane was “wet leased” to Emirates, the United Arab Emirates’ carrier, meaning that Air ACT provides the aircraft, crew and other services, according to local media. Air ACT said in a statement last week that it extended its condolences to the families and the two workers who died, adding that it was in “close contact with the official teams and continues to fully cooperate with utmost diligence.” On Friday, the Association for the Rights of Industrial Accident Victims said the families of the workers had met with a representative of the Transport and Logistics Bureau, the consul general of the Turkish consulate in Hong Kong, and the managing director of Air ACT. The families have been offered ex gratia payments as emergency relief, the NGO added. The north runway, where the crash occurred, has been closed since Thursday for the removal of the plane. A United States agency has also sent a team of five aviation safety investigators to assist Hong Kong authorities with the probe.
