TAIPEI - A CHINA Airlines plane preparing for takeoff in New York hit another aircraft on the ground, the company said on Friday, a scrape that injured no one but that could further dent the Taiwan airline's safety record.

The accident around midnight on Thursday (New York time) happened as the China Airlines plane was backing away from its gate, airline spokesman Bruce Chen said.

No one was hurt, he said, and the airline is investigating what happened.

About 350 passengers were stranded, Taiwan's Central News Agency said.

China Airlines has a troubled safety record with four deadly accidents in the past 14 years, including a crash in the Japanese city of Nagoya in 1994 in which 264 people were killed. A plane also caught fire in Japan in August. All passengers and crew escaped unhurt. -- REUTERS