Around 7:30AM on May 23, 2024, two JAL Airbus A350-900 aircraft clipped wings at Tokyo Haneda Airport. While one of the aircraft was being pushed back for departure as flight 503, the other was being towed into the adjacent parking spot in preparation for flight 505. Both aircraft were bound for Sapporo New Chitose.
JAL flight 503 operated by aircraft registered JA02XJ was being pushed back from parking spot 16 when its left wing came into contact with the right wing of the JA09XJ, the A350 being towed into spot 17 in preparation for flight 505. A total of 316 passengers (including four infants) and 12 crew members (two pilots and 10 flight attendants) was onboard flight 503. No injuries were reported.
As a result of the incident, JAL flight 503 and the aircraft’s subsequent return flight to Tokyo, JL504, were canceled. Instead, one-off afternoon flights JL4501 and JL4502 operated by a Boeing 787-9 registered JA878J were added. Flight 505 departed with a nearly two-hour delay using a substitute aircraft, an A350-900 registered JA03XJ.
The airline and Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism are investigating the incident, which follows JAL’s recent near-runway-incursion incident at Fukuoka Airport.
