Safety

Hong Kong's Civil Aviation Department (CAD) is investigating an incident that occurred earlier this month when a Hong Kong Airlines Boeing 737-800 tried to take off from a Hong Kong airport taxiway.

A CAD spokesman in Hong Kong says on 13 September at 04.14 a Hong Kong Airlines 737-800 tried to take off from a taxiway at Hong Kong airport.

He says 112 passengers, five cabin crew and two pilots were on board the aircraft which was heading to do a charter flight from Hong Kong to Cheongju in South Korea.

Air traffic control radioed the pilots and had them abort the takeoff.

One of the pilots has reportedly claimed that he never planned to take off from the taxiway and that he was just taxiing at a very high speed.

But the CAD has dismissed this claim and said the speed that the aircraft was going suggests it was trying to take off.

Reportedly the two pilots have since been suspended from duty while the investigation is underway but the CAD spokesman was unable to confirm this.