United Airlines Airbus A319 Clips Fellow Fleet Member At San Francisco International Airport
Summary
- Ground collisions between planes are relatively common occurrences that can disrupt airline operations.
- These incidents can lead to abrupt changes in scheduling and the need for immediate maintenance evaluations.
- Despite potential disruptions, incidents like these are rare, and airline staff are trained to handle them safely.
A United Airlines Airbus A319 accidentally clipped the wings of another plane belonging to the same fleet. According to the San Fransisco Chronicle, the first to report, the jet came into contact with another airplane from the same fleet and taxied into the stand on Thursday at 10:35 p.m. According to Flightradar24, the aircraft operating the flight was registered as N471UA, a 23-year-old jet. Both planes involved were briefly unable to move. The ground crew intervened, and the passengers could deplane normally. The aircraft involved was operating flight UA Flight 2181 and was reported to be carrying 105 passengers and a crew of five. There were no reported injuries.
As a result of the emergency response, other flights were delayed by a few minutes to allow the emergency ground crew to attend and then clear the gate area once the issue was resolved.
Photo: Robin Guess | Shutterstock
Data from the website shows that the aircraft departed later for a three-hour flight to Columbus, indicating the damage mustn’t have been major.
Ground collisions: What are they?
Ground collisions are relatively common, with several incidents reported each year. They occur when an aircraft or vehicle hits another during pushback or taxi. They can cause severe damage to the airframes involved but seldom cause injury to passengers or crew.
This month alone, we reported another of these events. On April 1, American Airlines flight 847 from Philadelphia International (PHL) to Charlotte pushed back from its gate to prepare for take-off when one of its wings made contact with another American Airlines jet parked at the adjacent gate. Much like in the United Airlines incident, passengers and crew deplaned. The damage to the Philadelphia bound airbus must have been more significant, as both aircraft were subsequently taken out of service on this occasion.
American Airlines Plane Clips Parked Plane During Pushback In Philadelphia
On Monday, an American Airlines jet on pushback scraped another AA jet sitting alongside, with both aircraft being taken out of service.
This event can significantly disrupt an airline’s network, especially in short-haul operations where an aircraft can be allocated several rotations throughout the day. Once a collision occurs, a maintenance team will be dispatched to determine if the airframe is fit to fly. If it isn’t, the operator will have to rush to find replacements, which will cause delays as crew may have to position themselves at the affected airport. In other cases, alternative registrations may not be available, or the crew can run out of available time, leading to cancelations. As the affected jet would have operated multiple flights, with flight crew even changing aircraft throughout the day, a domino effect can be observed throughout the airline’s regional network. Thankfully, this did not happen on this United Airlines flight.
Bottom Line.
Although passengers were reported to have been abruptly shaken during the incident in San Fransisco, no injuries or domino effect was reported across the network. Readers must also remember that these situations remain extremely rare, with thousands of flights arriving and departing airports worldwide daily with no incidents. If the unlikely happens, cabin crew and pilots are trained to respond to them and will safely bring you back to the gate.
What do you think? Have you witnessed this kind of incident? How did the airport and airline react? Let us know in the comments.
