Airports Plagued by Accidents at Weekend, China

Airports Plagued by Accidents at Weekend

A fuel truck rammed into the wing of an airplane at Beijing Capital International Airport while chemical experts were dispatched to monitor a radioactive leak at Hong Kong International Airport on Saturday.

Another collision between a truck and airplane occurred in northwest China's Xi'an on Friday night.

No explosions or deaths were reported in the three accidents.

In Beijing, a fuel truck collided with Finnair flight AY052, and got stuck under the plane's wing. The collision occurred after the truck had finished filling up the plane with petrol.

The situation was tense because some eight tons of petrol was stored in the wing, and some fuel was still left in the truck.

The truck was moved away after all the fuel in the wing was pumped out, and the tires of the truck were flattened to lower the height of the vehicle.

All 287 passengers were evacuated and sent to hotels. They were expected to leave for Finland yesterday. Finnair said it would compensate passengers for the delay but has not confirmed compensation amounts.

In Hong Kong, a box of germanium, a grey-white metalloid element that is widely used as a semiconductor, was accidentally thrown out of the airport's cargo station and the packaging destroyed.

The station was cordoned off and airport authorities dispatched a group of chemical experts to monitor the situation.

The team said there wasn't a large amount of radiation from the germanium, and airport operations were not affected.

In Xi'an, a cargo wagon slammed into the fuselage of flight MU2628 of Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines at about 10:30 PM on Friday.

Local media reported that the collision left a bowl-sized hole in the plane.

About 100 passengers were transferred to another flight that eventually left for Jinjiang in east China's Fujian Province at midnight. Each passenger received a compensation of 400 yuan (US$49) for the delay.

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