When two Hong Kong high-speed ferries collided and a captain was jailed for manslaughter, only for a UK court to quash his conviction
- Two high-speed ferries, one bound for Macau, the other for Hong Kong, collided at full speed, killing four people and injuring more than 80
- Both captains and deck officers were charged with manslaughter, but only one captain was found guilty, and the Privy Council in London quashed his conviction
“An investigation is under way into yesterday’s hydrofoil accident, which resulted in two deaths and 82 passengers, including the captain of one of the vessels and a crewman being taken to hospital,” the South China Morning Post reported on July 12, 1982.
The Macau-bound Flying Flamingo carrying 125 passengers and the Hong Kong-bound Flying Goldfinch with 32 on board – both owned and operated by the Hongkong and Macau Hydrofoil Co – had collided 4.3 nautical miles west of Fan Lau on Lantau Island, at 9:50am on July 11.
Flying Flamingo passengers told the Post that both hydrofoils were moving at full speed when the collision occurred.
The death toll had risen to four by August 8, and the paper reported that “the experienced captain of a jetfoil who regularly makes the return trip between Hongkong and the Portuguese territory has said the collision was almost certainly the result of human error”.
The two captains and two deck officers of the hydrofoils were “charged with the manslaughter of Mrs Wu Yuk-ngan”, a passenger on the Flying Flamingo. However, Caption Kong Cheuk-kwan, of the Flying Goldfinch, was the only one found guilty. He was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment, the Post reported on March 26, 1983.
