Air Accident Investigation Authority publishes final report on serious incident of runway incursion

     â€‹The Air Accident Investigation Authority (AAIA) today (August 11) published the final report (2/2021) on the investigation into a serious incident of runway incursion that involved a Boeing 747-400SF aircraft (registration mark OM-ACB) operated by Air Cargo Global, and an Airbus A330-343 aircraft (registration mark B-LNS) operated by Hong Kong Airlines Limited, at Hong Kong International Airport on September 22, 2017.

     At 8.55am, the Boeing 747-400SF aircraft entered Runway 07R (RWY07R) from Taxiway J6 while the Airbus A330-343 aircraft was about to depart on the same runway. A few seconds after commencing take-off roll, the A330 pilots noticed that further down the runway an aircraft had entered RWY07R from the left hand side. They rejected the take-off at once. Air traffic control (ATC) also instructed the A330 to stop immediately. The closest distance between the two aircraft was about 1 100 metres. Neither aircraft was damaged and no one was injured. The occurrence was classified as a serious incident according to the criteria of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
      
     The investigation was conducted by a team of professional investigators in adherence to international standards established by the ICAO. The investigation identified that, while a specific clearance is required for entering an active runway, a taxi instruction issued by ATC was misconstrued by the Boeing 747 pilots as including a runway crossing clearance, resulting in the runway incursion. The investigation team has made two safety recommendations.
      
     "The investigation report was published by the AAIA with the objective of identifying the circumstances and causes of the serious incident with a view to preventing recurrence," an AAIA spokesperson said.
      
     Throughout the investigation, all parties concerned were properly consulted on the report. The report is available for download at the AAIA webpage (www.thb.gov.hk/aaia/eng/investigation_reports/index.htm).