Hong Kong Airlines flight cleared for take-off while Cathay Pacific plane was crossing runway
Report on incident shows air traffic controllers ordered passenger jet to abort take-off soon after; an investigation is under way to determine details
The preliminary findings of an ongoing investigation involving a Hong Kong Airlines passenger jet and a Cathay Pacific cargo carrier were published in the Civil Aviation Department’s serious incident bulletin on Tuesday.
According to the report, the Hong Kong Airlines A330 aircraft was awaiting take-off behind a departing aircraft at runway 07R at 1.05pm on December 23.
About 15 seconds later, a Cathay Pacific Airways B747 cargo plane that had just landed from Alaska on the same runway told aircraft controllers that it was approaching the taxiway J11 holding point, which was located at the departure end of the runway.
The controller instructed the cargo plane to hold at the taxiway as another aircraft was departing from the runway but gave it clearance to cross a minute later at 1.06pm. The instruction was read back by the Cathay pilots.
Two jets collide: panicked passengers watch in horror as aircraft wing bursts into flames at Toronto airport
About 30 seconds later, the controller cleared the Hong Kong Airlines flight for take-off, only to be told by Cathay’s pilots that their aircraft was still crossing the runway.