Accidents happen in just about every field. Aviation is no outlier. While incidents remain pretty rare, things do happen while on the ground. In this case, two HK Express Airbus A321s collided on the ground at Hong Kong International Airport (HKG). There were no reported injuries.
The incident
A user posted on Twitter some pictures of two HK Express Airbus A321s that collided in Hong Kong.
Two Airbus A321s of HK Express (B-LEG + B-LEF) collided on the apron at Hong Kong Intl AP (VHHH). While “LEG” was stationary, “LEF” was being pushed back by a tug when the left stabilizer contacted the upper cockpit fuselage. No one was hurt. @18Agency18 pic.twitter.com/2ae5kbsHXu
— JACDEC (@JacdecNew) August 12, 2020
It appears that one of the aircraft, in this case, B-LEF, was being pushed back when it made contact with the fuselage of the other A321, B-LEG, just above the cockpit. There were no reported injuries.
There will likely be an investigation into the incident. It is unclear exactly what happened, but the tug driver may have misjudged some distance, or there may have been other personnel such as ramp workers that had some role in it. Regardless, an investigation will only detail what went wrong.
As for the planes, HK Express will need to conduct some testing and repairs. It does not appear that there is much significant damage. For sure, there will be some cosmetic repairs necessary. Beyond that, the systems on both aircraft will likely be tested to look for any faults. Depending on the extent of the repairs, it may take a while for the planes to reenter service, or else they may be ready to fly soon.
Neither of the planes involved in the incident was carrying passengers. This is good for the airline since it reduces operational headaches of rescheduling customers and crew. Plus, with plenty of planes still parked, HK Express could always make moves to reactivate another jet in case these aircraft have to remain out of service for some time.
The aircraft
The two aircraft involved in the incident were B-LEG and B-LEF. Both of these planes are Airbus A321-200s that fly for HK Express. B-LEG is two years old, while B-LEF is slightly older at three years of age.
According to data from Flightradar24, B-LEG has not flown any commercial flights since March when it came in from Osaka. Flightradar24 also shows that B-LEF last flew in early March on the same Osaka to Hong Kong Leg just under a week after B-LEG. Both aircraft have remained parked since then, but have flown some flights in Hong Kong, likely for crew recency purposes.
The Airbus A321s have a total capacity of 230 passengers. As HK Express is a low-cost airline, all of its aircraft operate in a single-class economy configuration.
HK Express
HK Express is a low-cost Hong Kong Airline. The carrier has a fleet of Airbus A320 family aircraft, including some A320neo planes. Last year, Cathay Pacific acquired the airline and charted out future plans for it.
As a result of the ongoing crisis, HK Express suspended its passenger operations back in March. The original return plane kept getting pushed back as the crisis worsened. However, finally, in early August, HK Express started to resume some of its operations, although there is plenty of room for the carrier to grow back to what it was in 2019. The airline’s operations remain incredibly slim for now.
What do you make of this incident? Let us know in the comments!