Wing of United flight clipped tail of Delta plane at Boston airport, officials say

By Sara Smart and Sharif Paget, CNN

(CNN) — The wing of a United Airlines flight clipped the tail of a Delta plane Friday evening at a Boston airport, federal aviation officials told CNN.

The incident happened around 7:20 pm at Boston Logan International Airport when the United plane was taxing to a holding pad at the airport and clipped the tail of a Delta flight, the Federal Aviation Administration said. No injuries were reported.

Alex Wilson, who said he was aboard the Delta flight waiting to take off, told CNN he felt the plane rock back and forth for a few seconds.

“[It] wasn’t immediately clear what caused this, although it felt like a brief earthquake,” he told CNN.

A few minutes later, Wilson said he noticed emergency vehicles outside his plane. Shortly after, the pilot came on the intercom to inform the passengers that another plane struck their back tail.

Video that Wilson recorded from inside the plane shows several emergency trucks and personnel by the aircraft. In another video, the United Airlines plane, which was bound for Newark, is seen getting towed.

Wilson said his Delta flight, which was headed to Detroit, eventually got towed back to its original gate.

“The winglet of a United aircraft clipped the tail of another aircraft at Boston Logan International Airport,” United said in a statement. “Customers on the United aircraft deplaned normally at the gate, and we will rebook them onto other flights.”

Meanwhile, Delta apologized for the delays to customers.

“The aircraft came into contact with another aircraft while awaiting takeoff clearance on the Logan airfield,” Delta Air Lines said in a statement to CNN. “Delta teams are working to get customers to their final destinations tonight, and we apologize for the delay.”

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.