Two planes collide at Japan's airport, weeks after deadly runway fire
Two planes collided at an airport on Japan's snowy northern island of Hokkaido on Tuesday, just weeks later, according to the airlines involved. a deadly catwalk fire in Tokyo.
No one was injured on Tuesday in the collision involving Korean Air and Cathay Pacific planes. According to NHK, Japan's public broadcaster, it happened at New Chitose Airport around 5:30 p.m. local time. Images on NHK of the airport – which had warned of delays and cancellations earlier in the day due to heavy snowfall – showed a thick layer on the ground.
Cathay Pacific said its plane “was struck by a Korean Air A330, which was taxiing past,” adding that the plane was parked at the time and was devoid of customers and crew.
Korean Air confirmed that its jet “came into contact” with the Cathay plane during a pushback.
“There were no injuries and the airline is cooperating with all relevant authorities,” Korean Air said said in a statement.
According to the Kyodo news agency, the Korean Air plane was on its way to Seoul, with 289 passengers and crew on board. The agency reported this that the A330, an Airbus, suffered damage to the left wing, while Cathay's Boeing 777-300 was damaged near the right tail.
NHK reported that a vehicle towing the Korean Air plane skidded on the snowy tarmac, causing the collision – the second collision between planes to occur at a Japanese airport this month. On January 2, a Japan Airlines plane burst into flames after colliding with a Coast Guard plane while landing in Tokyo. Five crew members of the Coast Guard aircraft were killed; all 367 passengers and 12 crew members on board the Japan Airlines plane were safely evacuated.
Researchers are still there working to determine what caused the disaster. In a transcript of communications between the air traffic control tower and both the Japan Airlines plane and the Coast Guard aircraft, it appeared that the commercial flight was cleared to land, while the Coast Guard aircraft was told to “go to the holding area had to taxi”. next to the runway.