Tipsheet

Two Passenger Airplanes Collided at Japanese Airport

Madeline Leesman
Madeline Leesman  |  January 16, 2024 3:15 PM

Two passenger airplanes collided at a Japanese airport on Tuesday, weeks after a similar incident instigated a deadly inferno in Tokyo. 

Reportedly, a Cathay Pacific plane was struck by a Korean Air aircraft at an airport in Hokkaido. The Korean Air plane was reportedly taxiing past. 

In a statement, Korean Air confirmed that the two planes came into contact and that there were no injuries. The plane had 289 passengers on board, according to the New York Times: 

The Korean Air plane was bound for Seoul, with 289 passengers and crew aboard, according to the news agency Kyodo. The agency reported that the A330, an Airbus, had sustained damage to the left wing, while Cathay’s Boeing 777-300 was damaged near its right tail.

NHK reported that a vehicle towing the Korean Air plane had skidded on the snowy tarmac, causing the collision — the second impact between planes to take place at a Japanese airport this month.

At the beginning of the year, a Japan Airlines plane became engulfed in flames after it reportedly collided with a Japan Coast Guard aircraft at an airport in Tokyo, which Townhall covered.  According to multiple reports, five of the six coast guard members were killed and all 367 passengers and 12 crew members on the Japan Airlines flight survived. 

Anton Deibe, a 17-year-old passenger from Sweden, told the Associated Press that “the entire cabin was filled with smoke within a few minutes.” 

Recommended

This NYT Post-Election Focus Group of Young Voters Is Brutal for the Media...and Incredible for JD Vance Guy Benson
Another Teacher Embroiled In a Scandal Over Trump's Win Sarah Arnold

“The smoke in the cabin stung like hell. It was a hell. We have no idea where we are going so we just run out into the field. It was chaos,” Deibe added.

Shortly after, an Alaska Airlines flight that departed Portland, Oregon was forced to make an emergency landing minutes after takeoff after a door plug blew off the plane, which Matt covered, The door plug was later located in a backyard.