By Lee Kap-soo

An accident occurred when a Korean Air plane collided with a Cathay Pacific plane in the snow at Sapporo Airport in Hokkaido, Japan.

According to industry sources, Korean Air flight KE766 and a Hong Kong Cathay Pacific flight collided at 5:30 p.m. at New Chitose Airport in Sapporo, Hokkaido, on a flight to Incheon.

According to the industry sources on Jan. 16, at around 5:30 pm on this day, Korean Air Flight KE766, scheduled to depart from Sapporo New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido to Incheon, and a Hong Kong Cathay Pacific passenger plane collided.

The accident occurred when Korean Air was de-icing the airliner and using a tow truck to push it back, the tow truck slipped and collided with the right tail wing of Cathay Pacific Flight CX583.

There were a total of 289 people on board the Korean Air flight, including the captain, 12 crew members, and 276 passengers, but no injuries are believed to have occurred. There were no passengers on board the Cathay Pacific flight.

"We apologize for the inconvenience caused to our passengers due to the ground contact incident, which was caused by a local ground operator," Korean Air said, adding that it will provide passengers with delay information and meal service, and cover local passengers with a replacement flight.

The replacement flight is scheduled to depart Incheon at 8:30 p.m. and arrive in Sapporo at 11:10 p.m. The flight will depart Sapporo at 1 a.m. on Nov. 17 and arrive in Incheon at 4:15 a.m. the same day.