If you’ve been paying attention to the airline industry lately, you’re probably aware there’s been a string of incidents that Boeing probably wishes hadn’t made the news. Considering how much negative attention Boeing has attracted recently, including news that its CEO plans to resign, it would be understandable if you assumed any bad plane story involved Boeing. According to KSTP TV, the latest incident actually involved a pair of Airbuses.
On Thursday at about 10:45 a.m., two Delta Airbus A320s were forced to return to the gate following an accident on the runway. No passengers were injured, but they were all forced to get off the plane once it reached the gate and find alternative flights that still had seats available so they could make it to their final destinations. As for what exactly sent two planes back to the gate and interrupted so many people’s flight plans, apparently the two planes touched tips on the runway and couldn’t take off without being inspected first.
Both planes were taxiing at relatively low speeds at the time, but from the sound of it, passengers didn’t enjoy experiencing two massive wings touching tips. Passenger Troy Jackson described what happened to KSTP TV, saying:
It’s just a startling boom and most vibrant shake I’ve ever had on an airplane. We’re taxiing and all of a sudden, (we heard) just a big, jarring bump on the runway. You could hear a pin drop right after it happened,” Jackson said. “I don’t think I ever felt like we were in danger. I think it just went through my mind that this is probably going to be a long day.
Between the two planes, the incident reportedly left 287 passengers searching for alternative accommodations. At the time, Delta told KSTP TV that “Delta teams are working to reaccommodate customers to their final destinations after a low-speed wingtip contact of two aircraft at MSP. We apologize to our customers for the resulting delay in their travels.”
“We’re all safe, and hopefully, we’ll get where we need to go eventually,” Jackson told the news outlet. “I’m grateful that it was taxiing and not in a more significant time like takeoff or landing when this happened.” Which is a great point. We can’t believe we have to say this, but you definitely shouldn’t be touching tips during takeoff or landing.