One plane collided with another at an airport on the snow-covered island of Hokkaido in northern Japan on Tuesday, according to the airlines involved, just weeks after a deadly fire on the runway in Tokyo.
No one was injured in the accident that occurred on Tuesday, which involved two Korean Air and Cathay Pacific aircraft. It happened at around 5:30 p.m. local time at New Chitose Airport, according to public broadcaster NHK. Shots on NHK of the airport – which was He warned earlier today of delays and cancellations Due to heavy snow – a thick layer appeared on the ground.
Cathay Pacific said its plane was “struck by a Korean Air A330 while passing,” adding in a statement that its plane was parked and empty of passengers and crew at the time.
Korean Air confirmed that its plane “came into contact” with the Cathay plane during the retrieval process.
She added: “There were no casualties, and the airline is cooperating with all concerned parties,” Korean Air He said in a statement.
The Korean Air plane was heading to Seoul with 289 passengers and crew on board, according to Kyodo News Agency. The agency reported The Airbus A330 sustained damage to its left wing, while Cathay's Boeing 777-300 sustained damage near its right tail.
NHK reported that a vehicle towing the Korean Air plane slid on the snowy runway, causing the two planes to touch, which is the second collision between two planes to occur at a Japanese airport this month. In January. On February 2, a Japan Airlines plane caught fire 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 on board the Japan Airlines plane were evacuated safely.
Investigators are still working to determine the cause of the disaster. In the transcript of communications between the air traffic control tower and both the Japan Airlines plane and the Coast Guard plane, it appears that the commercial flight was given permission to land while the Coast Guard plane was told to “taxi to the holding point.” Next to the runway.
But Kathleen Bangs, an aviation expert and former commercial airline pilot, said it would be a mistake to compare the two incidents.
The Tokyo incident appears to have involved a runway overrun — when someone is on the runway, which is a risky area with constant, high-speed movement, and isn't supposed to be — while Tuesday's incident was a low-speed, essentially wing-tip collision. Gate said.
“The situation is completely different,” she said of the episode in Hokkaido, adding that episodes like Tuesday’s are “not rare.”
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