Incidentally, just two weeks ago, a Japan Airlines plane and a coast guard aircraft collided at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. Tragically, the collision resulted in a fire, leading to the loss of five out of the six crew members on the smaller plane.
In today’s incident, the Korean Air plane was taxiing towards a runway for takeoff when it collided with the unoccupied Cathay Pacific aircraft. According to reports, there was no fire or fuel leaks.
The Korean Air plane slipped due to snow on the ground, causing the airplane’s left wing to clip the Cathay Pacific plane’s right tail wing, as Korean officials told Reuters.
Korean Air Lines’ initial assessment attributed the cause to a ground handler towing the airplane in heavy snow, the airline official told Reuters.
Meanwhile, Cathay Pacific said the incident took place while its aircraft was parked at New Chitose Airport in Sapporo.The airline, in a statement, said, “Our aircraft, which was stationary at the time with no customers nor crew onboard, was struck by a Korean Air A330, which was taxiing past.”Korean Air also confirmed there were no injuries on board its plane.
“A Korean Air aircraft came into contact with a Cathay aircraft during pushback at New Chitose (Sapporo) Airport when the third-party ground handler vehicle slipped due to heavy snow. There were no injuries, and the airline is cooperating with all relevant authorities,” the carrier said.
With agency inputs
