Source: SCMP/Appledaily/On.cc

An unemployed Hong Kong man accused of rape, false imprisonment and assault pleaded guilty halfway through his jury trial, a day after one of his victims broke down in court recounting 72 hours of horror.

Source: SCMP

The co-pilot of an Air China flight that plummeted 25,000 feet in 10 minutes on Tuesday after leaving Hong Kong was smoking an electronic cigarette and made an error that forced the plane’s emergency descent, the state aviation regulator revealed on Friday.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China said preliminary investigations found that the co-pilot had, without telling the pilot, attempted to turn off a circulation fan to prevent smoke from reaching the cabin. “[But the co-pilot] mistakenly switched off the air-conditioning unit that was next to it, resulting in insufficient oxygen in the cabin and an altitude warning,” said Qiao Yibin, of the authority’s safety office, at a press briefing, according to state-run Xinhua news agency. “At present, we are investigating the cause in greater detail, and if the investigation proves it is true, we will handle it according to the law and regulations and deal with it seriously.”

Air China’s website says smoking is strictly prohibited on all its flights. It is clearly stated that e-cigarettes are also banned. On Tuesday, half an hour after flight CA106 carrying 153 passengers and nine crew members left Hong Kong International Airport, oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling, and the plane descended to 10,000 feet as it was travelling between Shantou and Xiamen.

The Boeing 737 later climbed back to 26,000 feet and arrived safely at its destination. No injuries were reported, and the aircraft was not damaged, the CAAC said on Thursday. The regulator also announced its seizure of flight data and the cockpit voice recorder, and said it had questioned the nine crew members. Air China previously said it had focused its investigations on the pilots, following claims that the crew had been smoking in the cockpit. If the allegations held true, it would deal with those responsible with “zero tolerance”, the airline said.

Aviation experts have questioned the pilots’ decision to continue with the journey despite having used up emergency oxygen supplies after the sudden descent. David Newbery, president of the Hong Kong Airline Pilots Association and a Cathay Pacific Airways pilot, said: “If the oxygen masks had been deployed, it would be foolhardy to [continue flying] because there would be no oxygen left in the event of a subsequent depressurisation.”

Following the mid-flight drama, the four year-old plane registered as B-5851 was flown without passengers to Beijing on Wednesday night and has not been used for any flights since, according to tracking website FlightRadar24. 

Source: SCMP/Appledaily

Five branches of a Hong Kong supermarket were hit by bleach attacks over the course of about 2½ hours on Wednesday afternoon. 

The first incident happened at 1.17pm, when a man poured bleach onto meat in the Po Kong Village Road outlet of Kai Bo Food Supermarket in Tsz Wan Shan and ran out. Three minutes later, a second branch on Yuk Wah Crescent, about 400 metres away, was also hit. “A man entered the supermarket and threw bleach over three employees before running out of the shop,” a police spokeswoman said. Meat worth about HK$3,000 (US$380) was also splashed with the liquid. The members of staff were taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei for treatment.

 At 1.25pm, bleach was splashed onto an employee in the Broadway outlet of Kai Bo on Mei Foo Sun Chuen private housing estate in Lai Chi Kok – almost 9km away from the first two attacks. Again, meat was also spoiled and the employee went to Princess Margaret Hospital for treatment.

Almost two hours later, at 3.16pm, police were called to another branch, this time on Fuk Wing Street in Sham Shui Po, after staff discovered pork had been spoiled. CCTV footage showed a man pouring liquid on the meat and running away, police said. A man later left a bag containing bleach on a table in a fifth branch on Reclamation Street at 3.48pm.

Police were searching for a possible connection and motive behind the attacks. The supermarket did not provide comment.

Source: ejinsight/youtube

Police arrested an unemployed man on suspicion that he was behind at least three recent needle-planting incidents on buses operated by Kowloon Motor Bus Co. (KMB), the Hong Kong Economic Journal reports.

The suspect, 30, was arrested at around 11 p.m. on Wednesday inside his flat at Cheung Fat Estate, a public rental housing estate in Tsing Yi, after investigators spent days going through videos from security cameras installed on KMB buses. Seven sewing needles were seized from the flat, including four of the same length as those found sticking out of the seats of three double-decker buses on Wednesday and Thursday last week.

Three passengers were injured in those incidents, which happened aboard KMB buses plying the 41A, 48X and 81 routes, RTHK reported. During interrogation, the man said he planted the needles because he was not happy with the KMB’s services, according to police. He said he had been a victim of a KMB bus skipping the bus stop, and he decided to get back at the bus operator by planting needles on the bus seats.

However, more than three incidents of the kind were reported over the past week,  prompting investigators to believe that there might be other culprits. Police did not rule out further arrests. Anyone found guilty of intentionally causing others to be seriously injured or permanently disabled could be jailed for life, police warned. 

A total of 10 needle-planting incidents involving KMB buses have been reported to the police since the first one took place on Wednesday last week. The latest one was reported at Lam Tin Station Public Transport Interchange on Thursday night by a man, who said a needle was stuck in his pants after he got off a 298E KMB bus he took in the morning.

Source: SCMP/Appledaily/On.cc

The strange spate of needles sticking out of Hong Kong bus seats continued on Tuesday, when the sixth such needle in less than a week was found on a KMB bus. The fresh case was reported at about 8.15am. The double-decker was operating route 46 and about to leave the terminal at Lai Yiu Estate, Kwai Chung, heading to Jordan.