AERIAL photographers who help produce annual maps of Hong Kong have been grounded by pollution for the first time this year.
Lands Department surveyors packed their cameras and got on a Government Flying Service plane on Tuesday, only to come down to earth with a bump.
'It is the first time this year I have had to abort a flight,' said land surveyor Andy Leung Tsz-ming.
'Because of the thick haze, I could not see the ground features even though I was flying at 4,000 feet, so I made a decision to abort the flight. It is the first time I've had this experience.' He said that yesterday was even worse.
'I didn't need to jump into the plane. I could make the decision from the ground. It is not cloud, it is haze - dust and particles in the air.' Mr Leung, who spends over 100 hours a year taking aerial photographs for the Lands Department, said he had never before encountered impenetrable haze.
The Royal Observatory estimated visibility at the airport at 4 pm yesterday was about 3,800 metres.
A forecaster said a continental air-stream brought fine and stable weather that kept a lid on dust particles.
