Kuwait Airways jet clips wings with another aircraft
Kuwait City/Manama : A passenger jet belonging to Kuwait Airways yesterday clipped wings with another plane on the tarmac at John F. Kennedy Airport early Saturday, Kuwait News Agency reported.
Port Authority officials, in a statement, said no injuries were reported and all passengers and crew onboard were able to disembark safely.
The incident, amid delays caused by a powerful Northeast winter storm, occurred outside Terminal 4 of the airport when the Kuwaiti jet was on the runway ready to take off.
Port Authority officials said the right wing of a China Southern Airways Boeing 777 hit the tail end of Kuwait Airways Boeing 777, damaging both aircrafts.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the China Southern plane was being towed during the collision.
All the passengers were transferred to a hotel until further arrangements are taken.
In a Twitter statement, Kuwait Airlines said that the incident affected Flight 118, which was headed from JFK to Kuwait City. The airline said it was working with authorities in New York to investigate.
According to Port Authority, no passengers were on the Chinese plane at the time of the incident.
They attributed the delay to a backlog caused by the winter storm. Reports said JFK logged over 350 cancellations on Friday and another 53 as of 11 a.m. ET on Saturday.
“An extreme winter storm is currently hitting the US’s east coast, which led to the shutting down of airports and the cancellation of about 3,300 flights, mainly JFK,” KUNA stated.
The incident followed a Friday scare at JFK, in which an American Airlines flight was forced to land shortly after takeoff because of a mechanical issue.
In a statement late Thursday, JFK officials said all international and local flights were suspended due to severe weather conditions.
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