Emirates SkyCargo Flight 9788

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Emirates SkyCargo Flight 9788
Air ACT- Boeing 747F - TC-ACF.jpg
TC-ACF, the aircraft involved in the accident, pictured in 2021
Accident
Date20 October 2025
Summary Runway excursion, collision with ground vehicle on landing, plunged into sea, under investigation
Site Hong Kong International Airport, New Territories
22°19′40.7″N113°53′48.0″E / 22.327972°N 113.896667°E / 22.327972; 113.896667
Emirates SkyCargo Flight 9788
Total fatalities2
Total survivors4
Aircraft
Aircraft type Boeing 747-481BDSF
Operator Air ACT on behalf of Emirates SkyCargo
IATA flight No.EK9788
ICAO flight No.UAE9788
Call signEMIRATES 9788
Registration TC-ACF
Flight origin Al Maktoum International Airport, Jebel Ali, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Destination Hong Kong International Airport, Hong Kong
Occupants4
Crew4
Fatalities0
Injuries4
Survivors4
Ground casualties
Ground fatalities2

On 20 October 2025, Emirates SkyCargo Flight 9788, a scheduled international cargo flight operating for Air ACT by a Boeing 747-400 from Al Maktoum International Airport in the United Arab Emirates, to Hong Kong International Airport suffered a runway excursion at Hong Kong International Airport at around 03:53 HKT (19:53 UTC), which then led to a collision with a ground vehicle, killing the two airport staff inside it. All four occupants of the aircraft survived.

Contents

It is one of the deadliest aviation incidents in years at Hong Kong International Airport, which has a good safety record. [1]

Background

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was TC-ACF, a Boeing 747-481BDSF operated by Air ACT for Emirates SkyCargo. The aircraft was first delivered as a passenger plane to All Nippon Airways (ANA) on 13 June 1993 with registration JA8962, and previously bore a Pokémon special livery during its time with ANA. Following its retirement from ANA, the aircraft was converted to a freighter in 2011 and delivered to Air ACT in 2013. [2] [3] [4] It was one of two aircraft operated by Air ACT at the time of the accident. [5]

Ground crew

The two airport security staff killed in the collision were a 41-year-old man and a 30-year-old man. [6] The Hong Kong Airport Authority confirmed the deaths and offered its condolences. [7]

Accident

The aircraft, coming from Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai, swerved off of runway 07L during landing at Hong Kong International Airport (ICAO: VHHH IATA: HKG)about 03:53 HKT. [8] During the excursion, the aircraft struck a patrol vehicle that was carrying out patrolling duty on the perimeter road outside the fenced perimeter of the runway. The aircraft came to rest in the sea and broken in half, with the fuselage submerged in the water with large cracks clearly visible. [1] The Hong Kong Fire Services Department had received the notification of incident at 03:55 HKT and began the rescue operation two minutes later. [9]

Emirates confirmed the aircraft was not carrying any cargo. [10] The ground vehicle was also dragged five metres from shore and trapped seven metres under water. [11] The aircraft did not send an emergency signal and did not respond to air traffic control. [12] According to Flightradar24 data, the aircraft hit the water at about 49 knots (91 km/h; 56 mph). At the time of the crash, the wind speed was 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph; 2.1 m/s) with gusts of up to 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph; 11 m/s). [2] At least one of the aircraft's evacuation slides deployed successfully. [1]

All four crew members on the aircraft survived and were transported to a hospital. A man in the vehicle struck was killed, while a man was sent to North Lantau Hospital where he later died. [13] [14] The ground crew killed were a 41-year-old driver of the vehicle, and a 30-year-old passenger. [6] The two ground staff had seven and 12 years of experience respectively. At least 213 firefighters and first aid officers, 45 vehicles, ships and a flying service helicopter assisted in the rescue efforts. [15] The affected runway was closed, but the two other runways remained in operation. [1] 12 cargo flights were cancelled throughout the day while passenger flights were not affected. [12]

Investigation

Hong Kong's Civil Aviation Department said in a statement it was following up with the airline and other parties involved in the crash. [16] [17] The National Transportation Safety Board said in a Twitter post they are sending a team of five investigators to assist in the investigation. [18] On 20 October 2025, an official from the Air Accident Investigation Authority (AAIA) said that they were still trying to locate the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder from the sea. [1]

On 21 October, it is reported that the location of the black box has been identified. [19]

Official response

Airport Authority Hong Kong confirmed the deaths of two ground crew members and offered its condolences. [7]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Yip, Martin; Lau, Stuart (20 October 2025). "Two dead after cargo plane skids off Hong Kong runway into sea". BBC News . Retrieved 23 October 2025.
  2. 1 2 Petchenik, Ian (20 October 2025). "AirACT 747 veers off runway in Hong Kong, strikes ground vehicle". Flightradar24 . Retrieved 20 October 2025.
  3. ↑ "機場貨機衝落海｜最早1993年於ANA服役 身披「比卡超」翱翔天際". HK01 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 20 October 2025. Retrieved 22 October 2025.
  4. ↑ Zwerger, Patrick (20 October 2025). "This is the crashed Boeing 747 from Hong Kong" (in German). Flug Revue  [ de ]. Retrieved 23 October 2025.
  5. ↑ "9T/RUN AirACT". Flightradar24 . Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  6. 1 2 "【機場貨機衝落海】有片｜兩喪命地勤分別30歲及41歲 貨機擱岸邊" [[Airport cargo plane crashes into the sea] Video | Two ground crew members killed, aged 30 and 41, were seen stranded on the shore]. HK01 (in Traditional Chinese). 19 October 2025. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
  7. 1 2 "Press Releases, Media Centre". Hong Kong International Airport. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
  8. ↑ "Cargo plane plunges into sea at Hong Kong airport; 2 killed". BNO News. 19 October 2025. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  9. ↑ 歐陽德浩, 賴卓盈 (20 October 2025). "機場貨機衝落海｜兩死者機場任職7年及12年 困7米深水底救出後亡". 香港01 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  10. ↑ Pomfret, James; Master, Farah (19 October 2025). "Cargo plane slides off runway in Hong Kong, media reports two dead". Reuters . Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  11. ↑ McMichael, Clara (19 October 2025). "2 dead at Hong Kong International Airport after cargo plane skids off runway into the sea". ABC News (United States) . Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  12. 1 2 Mok, Danny (20 October 2025). "2 dead after Emirates plane slides off Hong Kong runway, apparently hits ground vehicle". South China Morning Post . Retrieved 20 October 2025.
  13. ↑ "Hong Kong: two people reported killed after cargo plane skids off airport runway". The Guardian . 20 October 2025. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
  14. ↑ Lam, Marco (20 October 2025). "Cargo plane runs off runway, crashes into ground vehicle and falls into sea at HK airport". The Standard . Retrieved 20 October 2025.
  15. ↑ Sarkar, Alisha Rahaman (20 October 2025). "Two dead after Hong Kong cargo plane skids off runway into sea". The Independent . Retrieved 20 October 2025.
  16. ↑ "A cargo aircraft skids off a Hong Kong runway into the sea, killing 2 people". Glacier Media. 19 October 2025. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  17. ↑ Hradecky, Simon (20 October 2025). "Accident: ACT B744 at Hong Kong on Oct 20th 2025, runway excursion, aircraft broken up in waters". The Aviation Herald. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
  18. ↑ National Transportation Safety Board [@NTSB_Newsroom] (21 October 2025). "The NTSB is sending a team of five investigators to Hong Kong to assist the Air Accident Investigation Authority investigation into Monday's runway excursion at Hong Kong International Airport involving a Boeing 747-418 owned by Turkish cargo airline ACT Airlines. In accordance with Annex 13 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation the AAIA is responsible for the investigation and controls the release of all investigative information" (Tweet). Retrieved 21 October 2025– via Twitter.
  19. ↑ 吳美松, 石國威 (21 October 2025). "機場貨機墮海｜黑盒位置鎖定 北跑道下午4時以「備用狀態」重開". 香港01 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Retrieved 21 October 2025.
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