A Boeing 747-400BDSF freighter of charter operator AirACT skidded off the runway and into the sea while attempting to land at Hong Kong airport.
The accident occurred at 03:50 local time on the airport’s northern runway 07L after the jet (TC-ACF) operated flight UAE9788 from Dubai, according to Hong Kong airport.
Four crew were rescued and taken to the hospital. One ground staff member has also been taken the hospital, while another is still missing. Media reports suggest that the two ground staff were in a vehicle that was swept into the sea during the accident.
Weather data suggests that conditions were clear at the time of the accident. But the airport was indicating winds from 020° at 03:30, which would have generated a 14kt (26km/h) crosswind from the left on runway 07L. About 10min after the accident the data shows wind gusts of 21kt – equating to a 16kt gusting crosswind.
The airport’s northern runway is closed, while the central and southern runway remain in operation.
Images of the crashed aircraft show that it is badly damaged. The forward fuselage is badly torn up, as well as the area immediately ahead of the right-side wing root. The aircraft’s rear fuselage was also torn off, with the forward tip of the aircraft’s green tail jutting above the waterline.
Slides on both the right and left upper deck were deployed. A video taken after dawn shows that the left-side slide is inflated and is in contact with a sea wall. The right-side slide was deployed but hangs down deflated.
Cirium, an aviation analytics provider, indicates that TC-ACF (MSN25645) originally entered service with All Nippon Airways in June 1993 as a passenger aircraft and was converted to a freighter in 2011.
The aircraft’s ownership has changed several times and its current owner is undisclosed.
According to its website, AirACT was set up in 2024 to provide unscheduled air cargo services to provide extra capacity to major carriers under an ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance) arrangement.
FlightGlobal has reached out to AirACT and Emirates.
