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First aircraft landing at Chek Lap Kok
A fixed wing Super King Air aircraft of the Government Flying Service (GFS) carrying the Financial Secretary, Mr Donald Tsang, made a historical landing at the new airport at Chek Lap Kok this (Thursday) afternoon.
This landing is the first ever landing by a fixed wing aircraft at the new airport, and it marks a significant milestone in the progress of its construction.
The Financial Secretary was accompanied by the Chairman of the Airport Authority, Mr Wong Po-yan; Secretary for Economic Services, Mr Stephen Ip; Director of the New Airport Projects Co-ordination Office, Mr Billy Lam; and Director of Civil Aviation, Mr Richard Siegel.
After disembarking from the aircraft, Mr Tsang unveiled a plaque commemorating the first aircraft landing at the new airport in front of guests from various government departments, the Airport Authority, airport committees and aviation industries.
The first landing was made in preparation of the commencement of calibration flight checks for the newly installed Instrument Landing System (ILS) to be conducted by the Civil Aviation Department.
On the calibration flight checks, a Civil Aviation Department spokesman said that a specially equipped aircraft of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States would calibrate the ILS for the first runway of the new airport.
"As FAA aircraft will have to make a number of approaches and landings on the runway during the process of calibration which will last for six to eight weeks, we have arranged for the GFS aircraft to perform the first landing, prior to the commencement of calibration flight checks," the spokesman said.
checks.
The spokesman pointed out that the ILS was now ready for calibration flight
The ILS is a navigational aid which provides accurate azimuth and descend guidance information to pilots to ensure a safe landing on the runway under all weather conditions.