Two United Airlines planes collided at San Francisco International Airport on Labor Day. The incident occurred just after 9 p.m., when Flight UA1871, which was heading to Denver, Colorado, was pulling away from the gate. It collided with Boston-bound Flight UA796, which was at another gate boarding passengers at the time.
The Federal Aviation Administration said that Flight UA1871 was towed back to the gate, where passengers were deplaned without incident.
Luckily, none of the passengers on either flight were injured.
The passengers told KGO that the collision felt like an earthquake.
“I think that’s probably a good description,” NTSB News Talk Host Max Trescott told the news station. “You know, we’re used to sitting in an airplane at the gate and things are very calm and quiet, and this definitely would feel very unusual. I think earthquake is probably a good description.”
While officials have no provided details about what caused the collision, Trescott told the station that the likely culprit was the tug, which is used to push the plane back from the gate.
“This may have been a case of either an operator turning the wheel at too sharp an angle, moving at too high a speed,” Trescott explained. “Most likely it was some operation type of error, but it could have been also a failure to properly maintain the tug.”
After the incident, the passengers were rebooked on different flights.
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