Transport minister Mable Chan on Monday said she hopes a preliminary investigation report on the fatal collision at Hong Kong International Airport could be submitted within a month.

Authorities said the Emirates cargo flight EK9788 – flying in from Dubai – had landed successfully in clear weather conditions on the north runway shortly after 3.50am on Monday and had travelled halfway down the runway before it suddenly veered left and collided with a security patrol vehicle, pushing it into the sea.

Two people inside the patrol vehicle were killed, while the four air crew were unharmed.

The Airport Authority said the north runway would remain shut for the time being as investigations are conducted.

Chan said she met with representatives from the authority as well as the Civil Aviation Department to hear about their follow-up plans.

"After evidence collection, depending on weather conditions, [the Airport Authority] will commence salvage works, emergency checks and repairs of the north runway, and will seek to reopen the runway within this week," she said in her bureau's Facebook post.

The minister added the bureau would continue to closely monitor developments and urged relevant departments to fully cooperate with the investigation.

Achim Czerny, a professor at Polytechnic University's department of logistics and maritime studies, expressed his disbelief that a vehicle could have been pushed into the sea from a runway that is both large and should not have been congested.

He expressed shock and sadness at the accident, but added that such incidents are generally rare given the advancements in aviation.

"We look at the development of such accidents over time. The last decades, let's say since 1960, it's just going down and down and down," he said.

"So flying is much safer now than it has been 60 years ago. Today, around 0.12 of a million flights experience a fatal accident. In around 1960, that was more than a tenth. So yes, it is rare, but it's still reality."