MIAMI- Two flights departing from Miami International Airport (MIA) experienced delays on Thursday evening after one of the planes made contact with the other.
At approximately 8:30 p.m., an American Airlines (AA) Boeing 777, while in reverse motion, collided with a Frontier Airlines (F9) Airbus A321neo. A video shared on Only in Dade depicts an airport employee rushing onto the tarmac to prevent the American plane from further backing up, reported CBS News.
American 777 Collide with Frontier
The Frontier aircraft, which was in the process of preparing for passenger boarding, sustained the impact.
“Only crew members were on board the Frontier aircraft then, and no injuries have been reported. Frontier is currently assessing damage and re-accommodating customers,” stated Frontier in a released statement.
American Flight 929 was originally destined for Sao Paulo, Brazil, while the Frontier flight was en route to Dallas (DFW).
Christian Galvez, a passenger set to board the Frontier plane, was on his way to Texas to visit a friend when the incident occurred.
Expressing the prevailing sentiment among passengers, Galvez mentioned, “We were angry for the most part, and they were doing their best to diffuse us from our angry mob state. I was fine with it, to be fair; I had already accepted my fate like maybe three hours prior. They told us that people who were not residents would be able to get a hotel room on them, and the flight would be moved to 1:45 in the afternoon.”
However, the Friday flight was subsequently rescheduled to 7 p.m. before eventually being canceled.
Structural Damage
Following the collision, the American jet damaged its vertical stabilizer, while the Frontier jet sustained tail damage where the vertical stabilizer penetrated, resulting in a hole.
Both planes are expected to be grounded for several weeks as repairs occur.
American Airlines issued an apology for the flight disruption, stating, “During pushback from the gate in Miami (MIA), the wing tip of American Airlines flight 929 with service from MIA to São Paulo (GRU) made contact with the tail of a parked aircraft. Customers deplaned normally, and the aircraft was taken out of service to be inspected by our maintenance team. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience this caused.”
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