Team must be on its toes for possible runway crashes
Although there has been only one fatal plane crash at Chek Lap Kok, the international airport's firefighters get more than 100 callouts a year.
The airport's fire chief said there had been 122 emergencies last year that required them to prepare for a possible runway crash.
Firefighters would roll out whenever a flight reported a mechanical problem - such as a landing gear malfunction, tyre problems or damaged windscreens - that could bring the plane down.
The most common trouble reported last year involved the wings of the aircrafts, with either the flaps or engines developing problems. There were 34 of these incidents last year.
These incidents were classified as 'local standby', the alert that makes up most of the callouts in a year, said Senior Divisional Officer Cheung Wah-kong who heads the Airport Fire Contingent. In the first 10 months of this year, there had been 90 of these alerts.
