Two American Airlines planes made contact on the ground at Washington National Airport on Thursday morning, leading to delays but no reported injuries. The incident occurred around 7:30 a.m. when one aircraft was being towed and its wingtip struck another American Airlines jet parked at a nearby gate.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the aircraft involved were an Airbus A319 and a Boeing 737. Passengers were not on board either plane at the time of the collision, and both aircraft were taken out of service for inspection and repair.
American Airlines confirmed the incident in a statement, saying, “Two of our aircraft made contact during a towing operation at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Safety is our top priority, and we are cooperating with the FAA to determine what happened.”
The airport remained operational, but the incident caused some gate delays as ground crews worked to clear the area. No impact on flight safety was reported.
The FAA is conducting a full investigation to assess the cause of the mishap and to ensure it does not happen again. While rare, ground collisions can occur due to human error or miscommunication during towing procedures or parking oper
ations.