Parked Plane at Narita Airport Spun Around by Heavy Wind

It is not only headwinds caused by the Coronavirus pandemic proving problematic for Japan’s airline industry, but also heavy winds that forced a parked airliner to spin around in Narita International Airport on April 13.

The approximately 50-tonne Japan Airlines (JAL) Boeing 737-800 airplane spun around 90 degrees clockwise with the tip of its left wing hitting an aerobridge and damaging it, Mainichi reported Tuesday.

In addition, a light cover on the wing, measuring seven by twenty-five centimeters, was smashed. Marks could be seen from where the wing met the bridge used to get people onto the plane. No crew or passengers were on board, and nobody was injured.

Over the past six weeks, Japan Airlines has grounded some of its aircraft owing to less passenger demand caused due to COVID-19 pandemic. The aircraft had been parked at Narita since April 5.

On Monday, Japan’s meteorological agency had issued extreme weather alerts, predicting heavy rains, storms and tornado gusts. The winds were strong enough to either dislodge, or force the plane over the wooden chocks that secure wheels of an aircraft, Japanese media reported.

 Narita Airport is currently investigating the incident. JAL said in a statement on the incident, "We will thoroughly investigate the causes, and wish to boost our safety measures in the future."