Korean Air plane punches hole in Cathay jet at Japan airport

A Korean Airlines Co. plane clipped a stationary Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. jet in Japan, punching a hole in its tail at New Chitose Airport near Sapporo on the country’s northern island.

Cathay Flight CX583 headed for Hong Kong was empty on late Tuesday at the time of the incident but will be grounded indefinitely due to the damage, which happened during pushback when the ground vehicle slipped in heavy snow. Korean Air said none of the 289 passengers and crew aboard were injured.

The incident comes a couple weeks after a collision at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport left five of six crew aboard a Japanese coast guard plane dead after it was struck by a Japan Airlines Co. Airbus jet landing on the runway.

Days later, airlines and travelers around the world were put on high alert after the escape door plug of a Boeing Co. 737 Max 9 was ejected midflight, leaving those onboard exposed to a gaping hole at 16,000 feet (4,900 meters).

Separately, authorities are investigating an incident Sunday evening at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, where a taxiing All Nippon Airways Boeing 777 collided with a Delta Air Lines 717, according to local reports.