HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong on Tuesday reopened the runway where a cargo aircraft crashed and plunged into the sea the previous day, but said it won't be used regularly until the wreckage was cleared.
The Boeing 747 flown by Turkey-based ACT Airlines flight from Dubai skidded to the left after landing early Monday and collided with a patrol car, causing both the aircraft and the car to plunge into the sea. Two workers in the car were killed. The four crew members on the plane had no apparent injuries.
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Police officers on a boat patrol near a cargo aircraft that skidded off a Hong Kong runway on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
Rescue workers approach a cargo aircraft that skidded off a Hong Kong runway on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
A diver prepares to inspect the cargo aircraft that skidded off a Hong Kong runway on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
The cargo aircraft that skidded off a Hong Kong airport runway is seen on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
The U.S. National Transport Safety Board was sending five investigators to Hong Kong to assist the probe by the city's air accident investigation authority, the U.S. agency posted on X on late Tuesday.
Repairs to the runway and damaged fencing have been completed, Steven Yiu, the airport authority’s executive director for airport operations, told Radio Television Hong Kong. He added that that investigators had collected initial evidence at the scene.
The plane's cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder have not yet been retrieved, Yiu said. The aircraft was being operated under lease by Emirates, a long-haul carrier based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The runway was reopened and put on standby status around 4 p.m., according to a statement on Tuesday evening. That means it can be used for landings but will not be included in regular flight planning.
Yiu earlier told Radio Television Hong Kong that it would remain in that status until the wreckage is fully cleared from the sea.
Hong Kong authorities were in contact with barge companies for the cleanup but they could not begin removal work while Tropical Storm Fengshen was still affecting the city, he said. Depending on weather, wreckage removal and other work could be completed within a week, Yiu said.
Investigators were continuing to work to determine the cause of the crash. Yiu said both weather and runway conditions met standards during the incident, while mechanical and human factors were yet to be investigated.
Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan said her bureau hoped the air accident investigation authority would release an initial probe report within a month, the bureau posted on Facebook.
Monday’s crash was the second fatal incident for ACT Airlines. In 2017, a Boeing 747 flown by ACT Airlines under the name MyCargo crashed as it prepared to land in fog in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, killing all four crew on board and 35 people on the ground. ACT Airlines flew that route from Hong Kong on behalf of Turkish Airlines.
A later report on the crash by Kyrgyz authorities blamed the flight crew for misjudging the plane’s position while landing in poor weather. The crew was tired and had a heated exchange with air-traffic control before the crash, the report said.
Police officers on a boat patrol near a cargo aircraft that skidded off a Hong Kong runway on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
Rescue workers approach a cargo aircraft that skidded off a Hong Kong runway on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
A diver prepares to inspect the cargo aircraft that skidded off a Hong Kong runway on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
The cargo aircraft that skidded off a Hong Kong airport runway is seen on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
SURIN, Thailand (AP) — Fighting continued to rage Saturday morning along the border of Thailand and Cambodia, even after U.S. President Donald Trump, acting as a mediator, declared that he had won agreement from both countries for a ceasefire.
Thai officials have said they did not agree to a ceasefire, and Cambodia has not commented on Trump’s claim. Its defense ministry instead said Thai jets carried out airstrikes Saturday morning. Cambodian media reported Trump’s claim without elaborating.
The latest large-scale fighting was set off by a skirmish on Dec. 7 that wounded two Thai soldiers and derailed a ceasefire promoted by Trump that ended five days of earlier combat in July over longstanding territorial disputes.
The July ceasefire was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed. It was formalized in more detail in October at a regional meeting in Malaysia that Trump attended.
About two dozen people have officially been reported killed in this past week’s fighting, while hundreds of thousands have been displaced on both sides of the border.
The Thai military acknowledges 11 of its troops have been killed, while estimating there have been 165 fatalities among Cambodian soldiers. Cambodia has not announced military casualties, but has said at least 11 civilians have been killed and 76 wounded.
Trump on Friday, after speaking to Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, had announced an agreement to restart the ceasefire.
“They have agreed to CEASE all shooting effective this evening, and go back to the original Peace Accord made with me, and them, with the help of the Great Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim,” Trump said in his Truth Social post.
Trump’s claim came after midnight in Bangkok. Thai Prime Minister Anutin had after his call with Trump said he had explained Thailand’s reasons for fighting and said peace would depend on Cambodia ceasing its attacks first. The Thai foreign ministry later explicitly disputed Trump’s claim that a ceasefire had been reached. Anutin's busy day on Friday including dissolving Parliament so new elections could be held early next year.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, in comments posted early Saturday morning, also made no mention of a ceasefire.
He said he held phone conversations on Friday night with Trump, and a night earlier with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, and thanked both “for their continuous efforts to achieve a long-lasting peace between Cambodia and Thailand.”
“Cambodia is ready to cooperate in any way that is needed,' Hun Manet wrote.
Thailand has been carrying out airstrikes on what it says are strictly military targets, while Cambodia has been firing thousands of medium-range BM-21 rockets that have caused havoc but relatively few casualties.
BM-21 rocket launchers can fire up to 40 rockets at a time with a range of 30-40 kilometers (19-25 miles). These rockets cannot be precisely targeted and have landed largely in areas from where most people have already been evacuated.
However, the Thai army announced Saturday that BM-21 rockets had hit a civilian area in Sisaket province, seriously injuring two civilians who had heard warning sirens and had been running toward a bunker for safety.
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Peck reported from Bangkok. Sopheng Cheang in Serei Saophoan, Cambodia, and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
An evacuee tastes soup as she takes refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing from home following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Evacuees cook food as they take refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing homes following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Children raise their hands while receiving donation from charity as they take refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing homes following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Evacuees wait to receive donation from local charity as they take refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing homes following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Village security volunteers and resident run into shelter while the blasts sounded too close in Buriram province, Thailand, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, following renewed border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
