Additional Coverage:
- United plane at San Francisco airport collides with another jet while pulling back from gate (foxnews.com)
Two United Airlines planes clipped each other at San Francisco International Airport on Labor Day. A United spokesperson confirmed the incident, stating that a plane being pushed back from the gate made contact with the tail of a parked aircraft.
No injuries were reported. Passengers from both planes reboarded onto other aircraft to continue their travels.
The incident involved UA796, bound for Boston, and UA1871, en route to Denver. The collision generated buzz on social media, with some speculating that a tow bar failure was responsible for the moving aircraft’s unexpected roll. One post included a photo reportedly originating from Reddit, showing the two planes making contact.
A Reddit user claiming to be a passenger on one of the planes described the impact as “a small bump” that caused the plane to shake briefly before the pilot made an announcement. Local news station KGO reported that some passengers compared the sensation to a minor earthquake. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident.
This isn’t the first such incident at SFO this year. In May, two United Airlines planes clipped wingtips while one was departing a gate, according to the FAA.