Two airplanes clipped wings at a gate at Boston Logan International Airport Monday, according to a Massachusetts Port Authority spokesperson, forcing the cancellation of a Frontier flight to Dallas during one of the busiest travel periods of the year.
No one was hurt when the wingtips of the planes touched at Terminal E, though the aircraft will need to be checked for damage, the spokesperson said.
NBC10 Boston
Later in the day, another wing-clipping incident was reported at Logan later Monday. A Cape Air spokeswoman said a JetBlue plane hit a Cape Air flight from Nantucket. None of the three passengers or two crew members on board were hurt; the plane was taken out of service to be inspected.
NBC10 Boston was reaching out for more information on the incident.
In the earlier incident, a Frontier spokesperson told NBC10 Boston that the American Airlines plane made contact with their aircraft for flight 3601 to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport while the Frontier plane was parked waiting to take off. There were 200 people on board the A321, which was preparing to department.
American Airlines confirmed flight 109 from London Heathrow Airport was pulling into its gate when it made contact with the parked aircraft.
“There were no reported injuries, and customers deplaned the aircraft shortly after. The aircraft has been removed from service for inspection by our maintenance team. We apologize to our customers for any inconvenience this caused,” the American Airlines spokesperson wrote.
“They said the plane had a refuel and then all of a sudden we just felt this I didn’t know what it was I’m like what’s that and then all of a sudden I looked out the window it was right outside my window,” said April O’Brien, who was a passenger on the Frontier flight.
Both planes had to be deboarded to inspect for damage, Massport said. The Frontier flight was canceled, leaving some passengers frustrated as they had to wait a day or two for a new flight during the busy travel period. Frontier said it is offering rebooking options or full refunds, as well as hotel and meal vouchers, and a $100 credit toward a future flight.
But O’Brien said the incident means wasting precious time she had planned to spend with her family.
“It’s horrible because my sister-in-law has stage 4 cancer so I’m trying to get to see her,” she said.
Douglas Garcia, who was also on the Frontier flight, said it’s been a scramble trying to find a new ticket.
“Now I have to wait all the way until Wednesday I have no accommodations of where I’m staying or or any idea what’s going on,” Garcia told NBC10 Boston.
Monday’s incident comes amid what officials expect to be a record travel day ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday and while no one was hurt, it puts a renewed focus on safety concerns during air travel.
The FAA has been focused on reducing runway incursions at the nation’s airports after several near collisions last year, including incidents at Logan Airport.
In February 2023 Logan Airport saw a close call when the pilot of a charter jet took off without permission, cutting into the path of a JetBlue plane that was preparing to land on an intersecting runway. The pilots of the JetBlue flight were able to pull up to avoid the other plane and land safely. Later in June, a United Airlines plane bumped into a parked plane at a low speed.
And in August 2023, an American Airlines flight was told to quickly abort a takeoff after an air traffic controller noticed another aircraft, a Spirit Airlines flight, approaching too close. One passenger recalled feeling a “major jolt” and hearing the tires squeal as the emergency brakes were applied.
No serious injuries were reported in any of the incidents.
In August 2023 the FAA announced Logan Airport would receive $44.9 million in federal funding to make improvements to its runways, part of the federal push to prevent runway incursions and improve safety.