Korean Air plane 'strikes' Cathay aircraft in Japan, no injuries

AFP | Tokyo                                                         

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

A Korean Air airliner "struck" an empty Cathay Pacific plane while taxiing at a snow-hit Japanese airport yesterday, with both airlines saying there were no injuries.

The incident at New Chitose Airport serving Sapporo came two weeks after a near-catastrophic collision at Tokyo's Haneda Airport between a Japan Airlines airliner and a smaller coast guard plane.

"Our aircraft, which was stationary at the time with no customers nor crew onboard, was struck by a Korean Air A330 which was taxiing past," Cathay Pacific said in a statement. Korean Air also confirmed there were no injuries among the 276 passengers and 13 crew on board its Airbus A330-300 that had been set to depart for Seoul Incheon from New Chitose on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.

The airline said its plane "came into contact" with the Cathay aircraft at 5:35 pm Japanese time (0835 GMT) "during pushback... when the third-party ground handler vehicle slipped due to heavy snow.

"There were no injuries and the airline is cooperating with all relevant authorities," the carrier said. Airport firefighters were on standby following the accident, but no oil leaks or fires had been confirmed, according to Hokkaido Cultural Broadcasting. Hokkaido has been hit by a cold front in recent days with heavy snow warnings issued in several cities.