JetBlue flight crashes into plane at New York airport

A JetBlue flight bound for Puerto Rico crashed into an empty plane on the tarmac at the New York airport, United States on Wednesday morning.

The incident comes just days after hundreds of lives were nearly lost at the airport when a Delta Boeing 737 and an American Airlines Boeing 777 narrowly avoided colliding during the Delta plane’s takeoff.

A passenger on board the JetBlue flight, disclosed that the plane was being pushed from the gate by a pushback truck and preparing to taxi before takeoff.

During the pushback, the AirBus A320 hit another parked JetBlue AirBus A320.

Following the incident, it was learned that the plane returned to the gate and there were no reported injuries.

Both aircraft were put out of service, the airline said.

A JetBlue spokesperson, in a statement, said the San Juan-bound flight “came into light contact with a parked unoccupied aircraft during pushback.”

The incident is under investigation by the FAA.

The flight was due to takeoff at 6:00 a.m. and passengers eventually left on a new aircraft at 7:50 a.m.

Last week, the Allied Pilots Association, which represents 15,000 American Airlines pilots, raised concerns about new cockpit protocols enforced by the airline without adequate training.

These procedures may however become part of the FAA and TSA investigation into the incident.

The new checks have been in force since Tuesday, January 11.

The procedures deal with cockpit communications during critical events such as low visibility landings, according to the union.

The Star

Segun Ojo