Two planes collided on a runway in Japan, which was the second airport crash in the country within two weeks.
On Tuesday, the mishap saw a Korean Air Lines flight come in contact with a Cathay Pacific Airways plane at New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido, Japan’s northern island. The Korean Air Lines flight was from South Korea, while the Cathay Pacific plane was from Hong Kong.
The incident unfolded as the Korean Air plane was in the process of preparing for take-off. According to Hokkaido Airports, which operates New Chitose Airport, they received a report at around 5:30 PM local time. The collision reportedly left Cathay Pacific with damage to its left wing.
A Korean Air official said the episode happened when a towing car, which was pushing the Korean Air plane backwards ahead of departure, slipped due to snow on the ground.
“A Korean Air aircraft came into contact with a Cathay aircraft during pushback at New Chitose (Sapporo) Airport by the third-party ground handler vehicle which slipped due to heavy snow. There were no injuries and the airline is cooperating with all relevant authorities,” a Korean Air Lines spokesperson said.
The fire department, however, confirmed the mishap did not cause any fire, according to reports in the local media. It is understood that while there were over 280 passengers and crew on board the Korean Air plane, there were no passengers on the Cathay Pacific plane, which was stationary during the collision.
Over 46 flights were cancelled on Tuesday at the New Chitose Airport due to the severe winter conditions in the region.
A statement from the airport before the crash read: “New Chitose Airport is experiencing flight delays and cancellations today due to heavy snow. Please check with your airline for details.”
The latest incident comes just two weeks after a devastating plane collision at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport left five people dead.
A Japan Airlines plane collided with a coastguard aircraft on the runway on Jan. 2 and erupted into flames.
Video footage from within the Japan Airlines Airbus-A350, which was carrying 379 people, including eight children, showed smoke releasing from beneath its wings as it landed at Tokyo’s Haneda airport at around 5.45 PM local time (8.45 AM GMT).
By the time the plane came to a halt, it was engulfed by flames as rescuers rushed to evacuate all the passengers. As many as five coastguard crew members from the smaller plane were killed in the collision. The pilot survived but was in a serious condition.
“I felt a boom, like we had hit something and jerked upward the moment we landed. I saw sparks outside the window and the cabin filled with gas and smoke,” an unnamed passenger said in an interview.
