2 planes bump into one another at JFK Airport
Two planes bumped into one another at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
NEW YORK – A JetBlue plane bumped into the tail of another plane at John F. Kennedy International Airport, according to officials.
The incident happened around 7 a.m. as the flight backed away from the gate.
"On Wednesday morning, JetBlue flight 1603 with scheduled service from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to San Juan’s Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport (SJU), came into light contact with a parked unoccupied aircraft during pushback," said JetBlue in a statement. "Flight 1603 returned to the gate, no injuries were reported, and the flight has been assigned to another aircraft. Safety is JetBlue’s first priority, and both aircraft involved will be taken out of service for inspection and the incident will be investigated."
In a statement, the FAA said, "JetBlue Flight 1603 struck the tail of a parked JetBlue aircraft while pushing back from the gate around 7 a.m.at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. The flight was going to Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Both aircraft were Airbus 320. No injuries were reported, and the FAA will investigate. Please contact JetBlue for more information."
It comes following a close call Friday night at the airport between a plane that was crossing a runway and another that was preparing for takeoff. Officials investigating near miss at JFK Airport
The FAA and the NTSB are looking into a near miss on the runway of JFK Airport between Delta and American Airlines plans.
"(Expletive)! Delta 1943, cancel takeoff clearance! Delta 1943, cancel takeoff clearance!" an air controller said in an audio recording of Air Traffic Control communications when he noticed the other plane, operated by American Airlines, crossing in front.
The recording was made by LiveATC, a website that monitors and posts flight communications.
Delta Air Lines' departing Boeing 737 plane then came to a "safe stop" on the runway as the other crossed in front, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
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"I think the controller made a good call to reject the takeoff," said John Cox, a retired pilot and professor of aviation safety at the University of Southern California.
He said the rejected takeoff safety maneuver, which is when pilots stop the aircraft and discontinue the takeoff, is one they are "very, very familiar with."
“Pilots practice rejected takeoff almost every time they get to the simulator.” John Cox
The Delta plane stopped about 1,000 feet (about 0.3 kilometers) from where the American Airlines plane had crossed from an adjacent taxiway, according to the FAA statement.
The agency said Saturday that it will investigate the incident, which happened around 8:45 p.m.
The National Transportation Safety Board also said it was looking into the close call.
"They'll go back and listen to every transmission between the American jet and air traffic control to see who misunderstood what," Cox said.
