Two weeks after a similar fatal accident in Tokyo, a Korean Air plane “grazed” an empty Cathay Pacific plane on the ground at Sapporo airport in northern Japan on Tuesday without causing injuries.
• Also read: Five dead after two planes collided at Tokyo Haneda Airport
In a statement, Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific said one of its planes parked at Shin-Chitose Airport was “hit by a taxiing Korean Air A330.” She said there were no passengers or staff on board her plane.
For its part, Korean Air assured in a separate press release that no one was injured on board its A330 en route to Seoul Incheon, where there were 276 passengers and 13 crew members.
At 5:35 p.m. (08:35 GMT), “a Korean Air aircraft came into contact with a Cathay aircraft during a reverse flight at Shin-Chitose Airport when a third-party ground handling vehicle skidded due to “significant snowfall,” it said South Korean company.
Hokkaido has been hit by a cold front in recent days and warnings of heavy snowfall have been issued in several cities. According to reports, 46 flights were canceled on Tuesday due to heavy snowfall.
“There were no injuries and the company is cooperating with all relevant authorities,” she added.
Neither Cathay nor Korean Air have estimated the amount of damage caused. Both airlines simply made it clear that their respective passengers would be transferred to other aircraft.
Increased controls
The operator of Hokkaido Airports could not be reached for comment on the accident, which TV station Hokkaido Cultural Broadcasting said did not cause a fuel leak.
This incident on the island of Hokkaido came two weeks after a ground collision on January 2 between a Japan Airlines Airbus A350-900 and a smaller Japanese Coast Guard aircraft. The collision occurred when the JAL aircraft was landing in Tokyo-Haneda (Honshu Island), from where the Coast Guard aircraft was scheduled to take off.
All 379 people on board the Japan Airlines plane were able to escape before it burst into flames. But five of the six people on board the small plane died.
Following this accident, the Japanese government announced last week that it had tightened its air traffic control procedures. “One of my most important tasks is to restore confidence in (civil, editor's note) aviation and public transport,” said Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito.
Under the new procedures, an employee must constantly monitor a surveillance system that warns control towers of runway encroachments.
Additionally, to avoid misunderstandings, air traffic controllers should not tell aircraft where they are in the take-off queue.
A transcript of the Jan. 2 communications released by the department suggests that the JAL plane was cleared to land, but the Coast Guard plane was ordered to stop short of the runway. Air traffic controllers told the Coast Guard plane it was “No. 1” or the next in line.
But the Coast Guard pilot, the sole survivor, reportedly said he believed he had permission to get onto the runway, where his plane remained for about 40 seconds before crashing.
According to the Asahi newspaper, at least 23 “serious incidents” involving the risk of ground collisions have been recorded at Japanese airports over the past decade.