Korean Air plane clips Cathay Pacific flight at Hokkaido airport of Japan

A Korean Air passenger plane clipped a Cathay Pacific aircraft at the parking area of New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido on Tuesday, resulting in damage to both aircraft.

According to the police and the fire department, no injuries were reported, and there has been no reported fires.

At around 5:30 pm on Tuesday, there was a collision in the parking area of New Chitose Airport between Korean Air Flight 766, which was scheduled to depart for Seoul, and Cathay Pacific Flight 584, which had arrived from Hong Kong and was parked, according to information from Hokkaido Airports, the operator of New Chitose Airport.

According to airport officials, it is reported that the left wing of the Korean Air plane, which was being pushed by a vehicle to exit the parking area, came into contact with the Cathay Pacific aircraft parked next to it.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the contact occurred between the left front tip of the wing of the Korean Air aircraft and the right portion of the horizontal tail of the Cathay Pacific aircraft. The detailed extent of the damage is not yet known.

At the time, the Korean Air flight had over 280 passengers and crew members on board, while all passengers of the Cathay Pacific aircraft had already disembarked, having no occupants inside the plane, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported.

There were no fuel leakage, fire or injuries resulting from the collision, according to the police and the fire department.

Hokkaido Airport and the airlines involved are continuing to investigate the detailed circumstances of the incident.

According to Korean Air, at the time, the airliner was about to be pushed onto the taxiway by a towing car operated by a subsidiary of Japan Airlines after snow removal work at the airport. Korean Air attributes the incident to the towing car skidding on the snowy road, NHK reported.

On Jan 2, a Japan Airlines passenger plane collided with a Japan Coast Guard aircraft during landing at Tokyo's Haneda Airport, resulting in the deaths of five individuals on the coast guard plane. The pilot survived but sustained severe injuries.

Fortunately, all 379 passengers and crew members aboard the JAL flight escaped without life-threatening injuries before the plane was fully engulfed in flames.

The incident is believed to have occurred when the coast guard aircraft mistakenly entered the runway, possibly due to the pilot misinterpreting the air traffic control phrase "No 1" — a phrase indicating the plane is next in line for takeoff — as clearance for takeoff, Japanese media reported.