Hong Kong Airport. Photo: Travelpixs/ shutterstockAtlas Air is co-operating with an investigation by Hong Kong’s aviation authorities following an emergency landing that closed one of Hong Kong International (HKIA)’s two runways for eight hours.The runway was closed on June 17 when an Atlas Air Boeing 747-400 freighter (5y4304) performed an emergency landing at the airport after taking from the Hong Kong hub earlier that morning on its way to Chicago via Anchorage.HKIA said the aircraft’s tyre burst and it suffered a hydraulic system failure in the incident.Flight tracking website FlightRadar shows the aircraft made it as far as Taiwan before turning back.The freighter, which is owned by Nippon Cargo Airlines and operated by Atlas, landed on the airport’s North runway at 7.12am. None of the crew members were injured.Cargo was offloaded from the aircraft and the tyre was replaced. As the hydraulic system of the freighter had broken down, the emergency handling took longer than expected.The north runway reopened at 15.45pm.“Hong Kong Airport Authority (AAHK) is highly concerned about the incident and will require the airline to submit a report to AAHK and Civil Aviation Department as mandated by set procedures,” the airport said in a statement.The airline yesterday issued the following statement to Air Cargo News: “Upon taking off from HKIA on June 17, pilots of Atlas Air Flight 5Y4304 suspected a tyre issue in one of its 16 main gear tyres.“The crew followed all standard procedures and returned safely to HKIA. We are cooperating fully with the Hong Kong AAIA investigation. “At Atlas, safety is always our top priority, and we are fully confident in our flight operations and maintenance programmes. The aircraft will be returned to service following repairs.”Earlier in the day, following the take-off of an Alaskan cargo flight at about 4.10am from the South Runway, AAHK received a report of suspected tyre fragments on the south runway.Following the reports, AAHK initiated emergency clearance according to established procedures and arranged other flights to land and take off on the North Runway. The clearance work concluded at about 6.20am.Around 186 flights were delayed by the Atlas incident.The Hong Kong incident is the third suffered by Atlas in recent weeks. On June 11, another of Atlas’ 747-400 freighters was forced to return to Incheon airport due to a hydraulic failure. Three tyres were damaged in the incident according to the Aviation Herald. The publication reported that the same aircraft had 10 days earlier landed at Los Angeles Airport with damaged tyres.Hong Kong remains busiest cargo airport as US hubs struggledAtlas to focus on widebodies as it reworks Amazon partnership