In what could turn out to be another aviation disaster, a Japan Airlines plane clipped a parked Delta Air Lines jet carrying 142 passengers while taxiing at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Wednesday (Jan 5).

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The airport took to its official social media handle and wrote that the Port of Seattle Fire, Police, and SEA operations responded to “an incident on the ramp at SEA on a taxi line between S Concourse and the south airport maintenance hangars”.

The collision occurred around 10:15 a.m. when Japan Airlines Flight 68, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner arriving from Tokyo, struck the tail of a Delta Boeing 737 waiting in line for de-icing. 

The viral video and the photos of the scene showed the Japan Airlines wing lodged into the tail of the Delta aircraft.

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The incident fortunately did not occur at high speed.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in a statement, said that the right wing of Japan Airlines Flight 68 "struck the tail of Delta Air Lines Flight 1921 while the aircrafts were taxiing at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport" on Wednesday (Feb 5).

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"The aircraft were in an area that is not under air traffic control. The FAA temporarily paused some flights to the airport as a result of the incident," the statement further added.

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No injuries reported

Delta Air Lines Flight 1921 was preparing for departure from Seattle, bound for Puerto Vallarta, with 142 passengers on board.

Meanwhile, the Japan Airlines plane had just arrived at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport after completing its journey from Tokyo.

“While in sequence for deicing, the tail of a Delta 737 aircraft reportedly made contact with a wing tip of another airline's aircraft. There are no reports of injuries for crew or customers on the flight, and we apologize for the experience and delay in travels,” Delta Air Lines told Daily Mail.

After the incident, the FAA paused some flights to the airport.

“There are no injuries reported at this time. SEA is working with both airlines to safely deplane passengers and bring them to the terminal,” the airport said.

“Airlines are working to accommodate passengers as needed. Airport response crews will be moving the aircraft off of the ramp taxiway,” it added.    

(With inputs from agencies)