The wing of an American Airlines plane at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport struck another American aircraft’s wing on Thursday as it took several members of Congress back to their New York-area districts.
At about 12:45 p.m. Thursday, a CRJ-700 jet headed for Charleston International Airport in South Carolina, struck the other plane on a taxiway connecting runways to other portions of an airport.
According to American Airlines, the winglets of both planes were damaged. Nobody was injured on either plane.
Charleston-bound Flight 5490’s wing struck an Embraer 175 aircraft headed for John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York with several lawmakers on board as Congress adjourned for the weekend.
Aboard Flight 4522 for New York were Reps. Grace Meng, Ritchie Torres and Gregory Meeks, all New York Democrats; Rep. Nick LaLota, New York Republican; and Rep. Josh Gottheimer, New Jersey Democrat.
Another New York Democrat, Rep. Adriano Espaillat, was also on board, according to the New York Post. He has not yet posted about the incident.
“Serving in Congress has come with some once in a lifetime experiences… like just now while stationary on the runway at DCA, another plane just bumped into our wing. Heading back to the gate, but thankfully everyone is ok!” Mr. LaLota posted on X, adding that Ms. Meng had grapes on hand to hand out to fellow passengers.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority told WJLA-TV that “there is no effect on flight operations at Reagan National Airport, as both aircraft have returned to gates and no injuries were reported.”
The flights in question were delayed about 2 1/2 hours due to the wing collision.
There was no immediate public word on the cause of the mishap.
Three of the Democratic lawmakers explicitly blamed purported cuts in federal-government staffing for the collision.
Ms. Meng wrote on X that “We are safely waiting on the tarmac, but we may need more snacks. I’m grateful no one was hurt today, but this incident underscores this urgent need restore all FAA jobs that keep our runways safe.”
Mr. Gottheimer echoed Ms. Meng, writing on X that “recent cuts to the FAA weaken our skies and public safety.”
Mr. Meeks added on X that “close call underscores the urgent need for more FAA funding — people’s lives are at stake.”
The air traffic control staff at Reagan National have come under particular scrutiny since the Jan. 29 mid-air collision between an Army helicopter and an arriving passenger plane over the Potomac River. All 67 people on both aircraft died in the incident.
There have been reports that investigators are focused specifically on communications errors by air traffic controllers at Reagan National during a near-miss incident on March 28 that saw another passenger plane allowed to depart when it should not have.
The plane came within 3,900 feet horizontally and 100 feet vertically of a group of Air Force jets on their way to Arlington National Cemetery for a flyover, a source familiar with the incident told CNN this week.
