On Sunday, for the second time in a week, a Southwest Airlines jet had an on-the-ground accident, as a jet pushing back from its gate bumped into another Southwest jet parked at the next gate.
The jet pushing back was headed for Oakland around 2:30 p.m., according to Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor, when it struck the parked plane at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank. The Los Angeles Times reported there were no injuries. NBC Los Angeles reported that the wing tips of both planes touched.
Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Emily Samuels said the airline attempted to transfer the 225 passengers aboard the two planes to other flights. The FAA reported that the area in which the accident occurred is not supervised by air traffic controllers.
The Tuesday prior to Sunday’s incident, a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 flying from Houston to Nashville skidded off the runway into a ditch as it taxied to its gate after landing in Nashville. 133 passengers and five crew members were aboard; eight people suffered minor injuries, according to the New York Daily News.
Southwest has had problems with wing tips of planes touching before; in June two planes clipped each other at Bob Hope Airport, and in August a similar event occurred at Oakland International Airport.
Photo: file