Helicopter from PLA’s Hong Kong garrison crashes in base’s first aircraft accident recorded in city
- Security Bureau informed of incident at Tai Lam Country Park, but no injuries or damage to residential property reported
A helicopter from the Hong Kong garrison of the People’s Liberation Army has crashed during a flight-training operation at a country park in the base’s first aircraft accident recorded in the city.
The Security Bureau said in a statement on Tuesday night that it had been notified by the garrison about Monday afternoon’s incident at Tai Lam Country Park.
While the Chinese statement described it as a crash, the English version used the term “accident”. Neither statement provided details about what had happened.
“The incident did not involve any injury to people or damage to residences. The garrison is handling and investigating the incident in accordance with the garrison law,” the bureau said.
The bureau said it would continue to liaise with the base on the incident.
It was the first accident in the city involving the local garrison’s aircraft since the handover from British to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.
The garrison is required by the Chinese constitution to make prior notifications to the Hong Kong government on any training operations that involve “a public interest”.
Tiny shrimp shut down a nuclear power plant in China twice in one week
Lawmaker James To Kun-sun, a member of the Legislative Council’s security panel, said the local garrison should inform the public promptly about incidents to avoid casualties, but accepted some military operations required a level of secrecy.
“Had [the aircraft] carried bombs or other dangerous items, many people would have been affected if announcements were made late,” he said.
