Finals

Landing at Hong Kong’s Kai Tak airport was a nail-biting ride as passengers felt they could almost touch the buildings of Kowloon; looking down the wings you could almost see into people’s apartments. At street level the roar of jet engines above was constant, yet no one looked up; it was all just part of the booming city. “Finals” captures and explores both the long-gone neon signs at street level and a jet overhead a unique Hong Kong moment that after over 70 years of operation; disappeared in 1998.

The last segment when flying into Kai Tak Airport on the Kowloon peninsula of Hong Kong in 1988 was a dramatic experience, flown visually and manually, with the pilot using only guidance lights to (and on) the runway and general visual references.  After seeing the “checkerboard” the right turn to land was made; once past the checkerboard the aircraft was on “short finals” or “finals”.

This dramatic turn was known to some as the “Kai Tak Heart Attack Turn”.

Kai Tak Airport, officially opened on March 28, 1925, with the first arrival of a de Havilland DH.60 Moth biplane, operated by the Royal Air Force. Commercial operations started in 1928 with it becoming an international airport in 1954. The last commercial flight to depart Kai Tak was Cathay Pacific flight CP292 to London Heathrow on the 6th July 1998. Kai Tak Airport officially closed on that day, after 73 years of operation, to be replaced by the ultra-modern Chek Lap Kok Airport.