Two passenger planes collide at a Japanese airport, weeks after the deadly crash inferno
- A Korean Air official said a Korean Air Lines plane clipped a Cathay Pacific Airways plane at New Chitose Airport on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido.
Two passenger planes have collided at a Japanese airport, weeks after a deadly crash in the country left five dead.
A Korean Air official said a Korean Air Lines plane clipped a Cathay Pacific Airways plane at New Chitose Airport on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido on Tuesday.
The accident happened as the Korean Air plane was preparing to take off, the airline official said.
Fire officials said the Cathay Pacific plane was parked on the tarmac when it was struck by the moving Korean Air plane.
There were 289 passengers on board the Korean Air plane during the incident, STV Japan said. No injuries were reported, Japanese broadcaster NTV said.
Two passenger planes have collided at a Japanese airport, weeks after a deadly crash in the country left five dead. In the photo: Damage to the wing of one of the planes
Images of the damage to one of the planes are shown on Japanese television
No other details were available, including the extent of damage to the plane or why the taxiing plane clipped the parked plane.
“Cathay Pacific confirms that an incident occurred today (January 16) involving a Cathay Pacific aircraft while parked at New Chitose Airport in Sapporo,” Cathay said in a statement.
“Our aircraft, which was stationary at the time and had no customers or crew on board, was struck by a Korean Air A330 that was taxiing past.”
An airport spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.
The latest incident comes days after a January 2 collision at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport saw a passenger plane catch fire when it collided with a coast guard plane.
Miraculously, all on board the JAL passenger plane – which landed at Haneda after flying from New Chitose Airport – escaped the inferno alive.
However, five of the six on board the Coast Guard aircraft were killed.
Questions remain about the exact cause of the crash.
However, a transcript of communications released by the ministry last week suggested that the JAL plane was cleared to land, but the Coast Guard plane was ordered to stop before the runway.
Tuesday’s collision took place at New Chitose Airport (photo, file photo)
The latest incident comes days after a January 2 collision at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport (pictured) saw a passenger plane catch fire when it collided with a coast guard plane.
Controllers told the Coast Guard plane – which was headed to an area of Japan that had been hit by an earthquake the day before – that it was ‘No. 1’, meaning it was next in line for takeoff.
But the Coast Guard pilot — the only survivor — reportedly said he believed he was cleared to go to the runway, where his plane was for about 40 seconds before the crash.
The charred wreckage of both aircraft has now been removed from the apron at Haneda and flight operations have returned to normal.
Transportation officials are investigating the cause of the fatal collision, focusing on communications between air traffic controllers and the two planes.