United Airlines planes clip wings at San Francisco airport in latest aviation safety incident
A United Airlines plane leaving San Francisco International Airport clipped wings with another United plane on Tuesday morning, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
"While United Airlines Flight 863 was pushing back from the gate at San Francisco International Airport, its right wingtip struck the left wingtip of United Airlines Flight 877," The FAA told Fox News Digital.
According to the FAA — which said it was investigating the incident — the collision occurred around 12:35 am in a part of the airport where air traffic controllers don't communicate with flight crews.
The FAA said that Flight 863 was heading to Sydney, Australia, and that Flight 877 was departing for Hong Kong.
United Airlines confirmed in a statement that no one was injured as a result of the collision.
"A United aircraft made contact with the wing of another United aircraft while pushing back from a gate at San Francisco International Airport. No injuries occurred and passengers on both planes deplaned normally. We are working with our customers to rebook them on other flights," the airline said in a statement.
Both planes involved in the incident are Boeing 777s.
The minor collision is the latest in a stretch of unsettling aircraft incidents ranging from near misses on runways to the horrifying and tragic airplane and helicopter collision that killed 67 over the Potomac River in January.
Last month, a few members of Congress had their own close call when an airplane at DCA — Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC — bumped the wing of the plane they had boarded.
"Serving in Congress has come with some once in a lifetime experiences… like just now while stationary on the runway at DCA, another plane just bumped into our wing. Heading back to the gate, but thankfully everyone is ok! (And @RepGraceMeng is handing out grapes!)," Congressman Nick LaLota of New York wrote in an X post.
In that instance, the wing of American Airlines Flight 5490 struck the wingtip of American Airlines Flight 4522 while it was taxiing on April 10.
President Donald Trump directed Tesla CEO Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to gut the federal workforce, and in doing so, thousands of workers were either cut from or voluntarily left — at the urging of Musk — the Department of Transportation, which includes the FAA.
The firings come at a time when many Americans are already feeling anxiety over the safety of air travel and airports are working through staffing shortages. A lack of staff at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey led to major delays for seven straight days this month.
But there are more than just workforce issues. A medical transport plane crashed in Philadelphia, killing a child and medical workers and destroying a home in January. Two days later, a United Airlines plane caught fire on the tarmac in Houston. A few days after that, a small commercial plane crashed in Alaska, killing all 10 of the people on board.
Less than a month after the collision that killed 67 people over the Potomac, Reagan National almost saw another tragedy when an American Airlines flight almost hit a Delta Flight. Then it happened again almost a month later when a military jet preparing to land and a Delta plane preparing to take off had to be given last-second instructions to prevent a collision.
Last month, a tour helicopter crashed into the Hudson River, killing a family that included three children and a former Navy SEAL who was piloting the craft.
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