AS PROVISIONAL Airport Authority chief executive Mr Richard Allen's limousine swept away from his plush Central Plaza offices on Thursday, his fate had already been signed and sealed.
His job had been offered to someone else. And at a secret location across Hongkong, the PAA board was in special session. There was only one item on its agenda: how to handle the fall out from replacing the authority's controversial silver-haired boss.
When a statement was finally issued by the board late on Thursday night, Mr Allen's contribution to Hongkong's new airport was acknowledged in one bald sentence of 20 words.
''During Mr Allen's period of office, the authority has achieved its growth from a small team into a comprehensive organisation,'' it said.
It was the final and bitter culmination of a series of battles Mr Allen had fought to establish the PAA against a backdrop of delay and mistrust.
His reign at the authority had been punctuated by poor public relations and a series of attacks by consultants and contractors as he battled to keep one of the world's biggest building projects within a tight budget.