Although it's been written up as a schoolboy stunt gone wrong, there's no disguising the desperate and lethal intent here. A number of shots were fired along packed HK streets and it's surprising nobody was killed. Had the aircraft they stormed been ready to go, there's little doubt they would have put their hijack plan into effect. Given the Chinese governments robust attitude to such events, there's a good chance this would have cost hundreds of lives had they succeeded in reaching Chinese airspace.
Despite all this, their Colonel seems to have been more bothered about his regiment's reputational damage. What does "sort matters out within the battalion" mean in terms of punishment?