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11 passengers were injured while evacuating a Cathay Pacific Airways flight departing Hong Kong International Airport, after the plane's take-off was aborted due to a technical issue.
Cathay Pacific flight CX880, bound for Los Angeles, was carrying 293 passengers and 17 crew at the time of the incident, which took place on Jun. 24 morning.
RTHK, a Hong Kong-based broadcaster, citing the Airport Authority, reported that the problem was characterised as a signal anomaly.
After the flight was aborted, the aircraft taxied back to a parking stand, where passengers evacuated via emergency slides.
South China Morning Post reported that local police were alerted at 12:51am, and heard that one of the plane's tyres had burst due to overheating.
One man and 10 women were injured during the evacuation process. Ambulances ferried the injured to two local hospitals.
Image from 苍南言 on Weibo.
Scenes of the evacuation were also circulated on social media, and showed passengers using the emergency door slides to exit the aircraft.
GIF of video from 红星视频 on Weibo.
New flight deployed, lodging arranged for affected passengers
In a statement by the carrier, the flight "performed an aborted take-off in accordance with standard procedures", after the crew detected a technical issue.
Once the aircraft returned to the gate, the passengers evacuated from the aircraft using five escape slides.
The airline also arranged overnight hotel accommodation for the affected passengers, and deployed another aircraft to operate the CX880 flight to Los Angeles.
The said flight departed this morning at 10:12am, carrying 283 passengers, the carrier noted, with alternate arrangements made for passengers taking connecting flights.
9 of the 11 injured passengers discharged
Cathay Pacific stated that nine of the eleven passengers who were treated at hospitals have been discharged, and their staff will continue to provide support for the remaining two patients, and their families.
They also confirmed that the remaining 275 passengers on the plane were not injured.
"We sincerely apologise for the disruption to our customers' journeys, and will cooperate with the authorities on the investigation," a spokesperson from the airline said.
RTHK stated both the Civil Aviation Department and the Air Accident Investigation Authority of Hong Kong will be investigating the incident.
Top image from 航空物语 on Weibo.