Two planes have made contact at an airport in Japan, leaving one with damage to its wing.
A Korean Air Lines plane – carrying 289 passengers and crew members – clipped a Cathay Pacific Airways aircraft at New Chitose Airport on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido on Tuesday, a Korean Air official said.
The contact happened around 5.30pm local time, while the Korean Air plane was preparing for take-off, the airline official said.
There was no one on the Cathay Pacific Airways plane, which was stationary at the time of the crash, according to the Kyodo News agency.
No injuries were reported, Japanese broadcaster NTV said, while no fire or fuel leaks were detected, according to a spokesperson for the local fire department.
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.
Representatives for the airport and Cathay Pacific Airways were not immediately available for comment when contacted by the news agency Reuters.
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It comes amid a cold snap in the north of Japan, bringing with it snow and -7C (19F) temperatures.
Images broadcast by NTV show it was snowing at the airport at the time of the collision.
Earlier this month, five people in a coastguard plane died when it was struck by a Japan Airlines (JAL) flight as it prepared to land at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport.
Airline passengers had to make an emergency exit due to a fire following that crash, which is currently the subject of an investigation.
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