HONG KONG, Oct 28 — The Hong Kong runway involved in a fatal plane crash has restarted operations, authorities said today, after two men were killed in one of the deadliest such incidents since the airport opened in 1998.
On October 20 a Boeing cargo plane veered off the airport’s northernmost runway during landing, then hit a security patrol car and skidded into the sea.
“Flights have resumed landings on the North Runway” since 4.10am (2010 GMT yesterday/4.10am Malaysian time), Airport Authority Hong Kong said in a statement to AFP.
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee told a media session that the salvage operation was completed on Monday night, adding that the airport was running as usual.
Two airport security staff were killed in last week’s incident, with authorities saying they had been in a safe position “outside the runway area”.
The city’s air accident investigation authority was now looking into crew qualifications, flight operations and maintenance records, Lee said.
The black box flight recorders were retrieved on Friday, and a preliminary investigation report is expected to be released within a month.
Lee said that the plane’s crew, from Istanbul-headquartered ACT Airlines, has remained in Hong Kong since the crash.
Officials said earlier that both the American and Turkish civil aviation accident investigative agencies, as well as experts from Boeing, are participating in the probe.
The crash happened at the airport’s newest runway, part of a HK$142 billion (RM75 billion) expansion project that was completed last year. — AFP
