The pilots and cabin crew aboard the Cathay Pacific flight that aborted take-off last Saturday have been removed from flight duties in line with what Hong Kong’s flagship carrier said was “standard protocol” when dealing with such incidents.
Eleven passengers were injured after a Cathay Pacific flight to Los Angeles carrying 293 passengers and 17 staff aborted its take-off at Hong Kong International Airport. Two suffered fractures and were hospitalised, while nine with minor injuries were discharged.
The Transport and Logistics Bureau said on its official Facebook page on Saturday night that the government was “highly concerned” by the incident, which is being probed by the bureau’s Air Accident Investigation Authority (AAIA). Transport secretary Lam Sai-hung sent his sympathies to those who were injured.
Cathay Pacific has expressed its apologies over the incident and said it would cooperate with the government for further investigation. The AAIA investigation is expected to be completed within a month.
Citing an anonymous source, Ming Pao reported on Sunday that the captain and first-officer’s wind speed-detection systems were not consistent as the plane was taxiing and was just about to take off, and therefore the captain suspended the take-off.
Warren Chim, a spokesperson for the Hong Kong Institute of Engineers Aircraft Division and a professional aircraft engineer, told Ming Pao on Sunday that if something went wrong with the speed detection systems, the flight should abort its take-off according to standard procedures as accurate speed detection was critical for safe flight.
The carrier said in a statement issued on Saturday that the flight had aborted take-off due to a technical issue and passengers had exited the aircraft using inflatable escape slides after the aircraft returned to the gate, during which 11 passengers were injured.
The company arranged another flight carrying 283 passengers to Los Angeles on the morning of last Saturday.
Another accident
Just a day after the aborted take-off, another Cathay Pacific flight was suspended due to a leaking water tank, according to local media reports.
After 280 passengers had boarded the Los Angeles-bound flight on Sunday, photos posted online purported to show water leaking from the aircraft onto the ground.
After the leak was discovered, the flight was grounded. Passengers were offered accommodation in a hotel before taking another flight at noon on Monday.
“We sincerely apologise for the convenience caused to our customers’ journeys, ” the carrier said in a statement issued on June 26.
A shadow has been cast over the service quality of Cathay Pacific since the city’s flagship carrier started to rebuild its passenger flight capacity after the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw the airline battered by strict travel restrictions.
Ronald Lam, CEO of the carrier, said in January that the company aimed to restore flight capacity to pre-pandemic levels by the end of next year, while unions of Cathay pilots and aircrew said staff morale was at “rock bottom” due to low salary and manpower shortage.
The company also faced criticism after three flight attendants were fired over alleged discrimination against Mandarin speakers in May The company announced it would start a round of recruitment in mainland China from July, targeting at hiring 200-300 mainland attendants.
Correction 29/6/2023: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Cathay Pacific had sent “condolences” to those injured, when it should have said “sympathies.” We regret the error.
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