Hundreds of passengers faced delays Wednesday after an American Airline’s plane clipped a stationary United Airlines plane on the taxiway at O’Hare Airport in Chicago.
ABC7 Chicago revealed that the American Airline’s flight 1979’s wing clipped the tail of a United Airlines flight 219 bound for Honolulu while the latter was stationary on the taxiway.
A statement from the United Airlines noted that “another airline’s aircraft made contact with the tail cone of a stationary United plane while on the taxiway awaiting departure,” NBC Chicago reported.
On the other hand, American Airlines stated that the wingtip of flight 1979 bound for Los Angeles has made contact with “a nearby aircraft on the taxiway.”
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the incident happened around 10 a.m. Wednesday and that no injuries were reported. A thorough inspection of the United Airlines plane was also being conducted. Following the incident, passengers of the United Airlines flight 219 were taken to Hawaii in a different aircraft.
A spokesperson of American Airlines revealed that its passengers got off the plane at a gate and will also be taking a replacement aircraft to carry on with their flight. In addition, the company’s spokesperson also issued an apology to its customers for the inconvenience.
However, unlike airport crashes that would often result in a disconcerting domino effect on airline operations, the incident between American Airlines and the United Airlines planes only created a “minimal impact” to airfield operations, according to officials. Just the same, an investigation would be launched so as to determine the cause of the collision.
The most recent incident is not the first “runway incursion” at the O’Hare airport. In 2024, there were 21 incursions recorded.
“Incursions” refer to situations where entities at the tarmac, including planes and humans alike, are said to be situated at the wrong place and the wrong time due to an accident or because of a confusion in understanding directions. The 21 incursions were said to belong to the lowest categories in the hierarchy of safety risks.
According to the report, the last time that a serious runway incursion was recorded at the O’Hare was in 2015.
Airport accidents have become a cause of concern for many following the Jeju Air crash in South Korea, which took hundreds of lives. A Boeing 737-800 jet plane with 181 passengers onboard veered off course, crashing into a concrete wall. Video footage published on X showed the Jeju Air plane crash and burst into flames.
