Fog chaos hits flights, shipping
Fog chaos hits flights, shipping Ng Kang-chung, Danny Mok and Agnes Lam
Updated on Apr 07, 2008 Dozens of angry Cathay Pacific passengers aboard a flight to Hong Kong from Taipei refused to get off the plane last night and demanded compensation from the airline after a day-long ordeal in which they were stranded for hours in Guangzhou.
The flight was diverted in heavy fog yesterday morning, when 12 other Hong Kong-bound flights were also diverted, local ferry services disrupted, and two cargo ships collided off the Po Toi Islands.
Cathay Pacific flight CX463, which left Taipei for Hong Kong at about 6.30am and was due to land at 8am, was forced to divert to Guangzhou's Baiyun airport due to heavy fog. The 188 passengers aboard the Airbus A330 did not return to Hong Kong until 7.15pm, with some transit passengers missing connecting flights.
Some passengers complained they had been left in the cabin for 10 hours and were only offered sandwiches, biscuits and bottled water. But others joked that they had been on a "direct flight" between Taipei and Guangzhou, before the "three-links" - direct trade, transport and communications between Taiwan and the mainland - had been officially introduced.
One Hong Kong passenger, businessman Ken Wong, said: "The crew's attitude was very bad. Messages were very confusing. First, they said it would be a two-hour wait. Later, they said the plane needed refuelling. And eventually they said the pilots were tired and needed to wait for Hong Kong to send another team to cover for them."
Mr Wong said many passengers had refused to get off the plane after it landed at Chek Lap Kok last night.
A Cathay Pacific spokeswoman said all 40 transit passengers who refused to get off the plane had done so at about 9pm and accepted accommodation arrangements.
The delay in Guangzhou was due to the need to send another crew to replace the one on board, which had worked longer than allowed. The airline said it was not responsible because the delay was due to bad weather. Every passenger affected was given three service vouchers worth a total of US$75 from the airline.
Meanwhile, the Hub Stella, a container carrier registered in the Marshall Islands, collided with a South Korean-registered cargo vessel, the World Dynasty, which was carrying chemicals, off the Po Toi Islands at 4.40am. Water poured into the Hub Stella's engine room through a hole after the accident, and containers on its deck were damaged. No injuries were reported among the ship's crew of about 20.
A government spokesman said the Hub Stella's destination was Hong Kong, but it was not known where the World Dynasty was going.