Japan: Korean Air and Cathay Pacific planes hit each other at New Chitose Airport leaving hole in wing

The collision comes two weeks after a horror crash between planes on a runway at Tokyo's Haneda airport left five dead
A part of wing of a Korean Air plane, left, and Cathay Pacific aircraft, right, are seen after the collision
AP
Matt Watts16 January 2024

A Korean Air plane carrying 289 people hit a parked Cathay Pacific aircraft while taxiing to a runway at Japan's New Chitose airport on Tuesday.

No injuries were reported, and there was no fire but footage showed a huge hole on the underside of one of the plane's wings.

The incident at the airport on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido happened just two weeks after a horrific collision between a Japan Airlines airliner and a coast guard plane on a runway at Tokyo's Haneda airport.

Airline passengers had to make an emergency exit due to a fire, and five of the six crew members on the smaller plane were killed.

On Tuesday, the KAL plane was heading to a runway for take-off from when it bumped into the empty Cathay Pacific plane, according to the Kyodo News agency.

A part of wing of a Korean Air plane, left, and Cathay Pacific aircraft, right, are seen after the collision at northern Japan's New Chitose Airport in Sapporo
AP

There was no one on the Cathay Pacific plane, which was stationary at the time of the crash, it reported. The contact happened around 5.30pm local time. The news agency quoted a local fire department spokesman as saying no fire or fuel leaks were detected.

A Korean Air official said the incident happened when a towing car, which was pushing the Korean Air plane backwards ahead of departure, slipped due to snow on the ground.

This led the plane's left wing to clip the Cathay Pacific Airways plane's right tail wing.

Korean Air Lines' initial assessment attributed the cause to a ground handler towing the plane in heavy snow, the airline official said.

Transport officials are investigating the cause of the fatal Haneda airport collision, focusing on the communication between air traffic controllers and the two planes.

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