The Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department (CAD) is investigating a loss of separation incident at Hong Kong International airport, involving a FedEx Boeing MD-11 freighter and a Hong Kong Airlines (HKA) Airbus A330-300.
The incident occurred on the evening of 22 May at the airport’s Runway 25L. The FedEx MD-11F, registered N595FE, was on final approach, operating flight FX9741 from Anchorage.
Meanwhile, the HKA Airbus was on its take-off run when the loss of separation incident happened. The aircraft, registered B-LNM, was operating flight HX765 to Bangkok. The CAD notes that there were no passengers on board the aircraft.
As the FedEx freighter was approaching Runway 25L, it noticed the that the HKA A330 “had not fully departed from the runway”, and decided to execute a missed approach.
“According to the preliminary information, when the FedEx freighter commenced the climb during the missed approach, the two aircraft were more than 1.7km (5,580ft) apart,” the CAD states.
The CAD, which has classified this as a serious incident, says the FedEx aircraft subsequently repositioned itself for approach and landed without incident. No-one was injured, and operations at the airport were not affected.
Cirium fleets data indicates the FedEx freighter was delivered to the carrier in 2002, having began its life as a passenger aircraft with American Airlines in 1993. The HKA A330, meanwhile, was delivered to the carrier in 2012.
