SIA plane clips tail of Spirit Airlines jet at US airport; no injuries reported

A SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) jet clipped the tail of another plane with its wing at the Newark Liberty International Airport in the US on Mar 3.

The SIA and Spirit Airlines planes were preparing to take off at about 10 am (11 pm, Singapore time) when they made contact on the ground at Terminal B, according to US media outlet CBS News.

Spirit Airlines’ plane was getting de-iced – having ice, snow, or frost from its surface removed – while parked during the incident. ABC 7 News reported that it was the SIA plane’s right wing that clipped the Spirit plane.

Both planes had to return to the gate, but no injuries were reported, said CBS News.

Passengers deplaned both jets normally after the incident.

The Spirit aircraft was taken out of service for inspection, while Singapore Airlines inspected its jet and cleared it to fly, rescheduling the long-haul flight to Singapore for 4 pm on Mar 4.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey confirmed with CBS News that no one was injured.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that the incident happened in a place where air traffic control are not present and not able to direct aircraft motion.

One passenger who was interviewed by CBS News said that the incident happened “in the first one minute as we pulled out”.

SEE ALSO

SIA, Cathay could gain from Gulf conflict but Asia-Pacific carriers face longer-term price hikes

SIA falls 4.7% after cancelling flights due to US-Israel strikes on Iran; Sats down 5.9%

SIA’s Q3 financials beat street consensus; analysts see early signs of pricing recovery

“The pilot came on after 20 minutes... told us something happened. We didn’t know what and then we saw the strike, and then we knew this was a problem,” Sree Sreenivasan said.

The FAA is investigating the incident. THE STRAITS TIMES