BOSTON – Two JetBlue planes, including one destined for Orlando, collided on the ground Thursday at Boston Logan International Airport, leaving minor damage that prompted both aircraft to be taken out of service for repairs, according to the airline.
The impact happened as one of the aircraft entered a de-icing pad lane at Boston Logan, coming into contact with another JetBlue aircraft on an adjacent de-icing lane, a JetBlue statement reads.
The incident caused damage to one aircraft’s winglet and the other aircraft’s tail section, according to the statement.
No injuries were reported on either plane, JetBlue said.
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Photos shared on social media by @RealRyanB show the damaged winglet, as well as what appears to be an aircraft component lying on the tarmac.
JetBlue flight 551 to Orlando and JetBlue flight 777 to Las Vegas would operate on other aircraft, the airline said.
Safety is JetBlue’s priority, and we will work to determine how and why this incident occurred.
JetBlue Corporate Communications statement Feb. 8, 2024 | excerpt
Chris McDonough was on Thursday morning’s flight from Boston to Orlando when the two planes came into contact.
“It felt like it was a high wind or earthquake or something, we didn’t know, nobody knew,” McDonough said.
Meghan Gavin was also on the flight from Boston.
“It was a really big impact,” Gavin said. “At first we had no idea what happened. It took a few minutes to find out and the pilot even said himself that was a first, he’s never experienced something like that, but yeah — looking out the window (...) I saw the other plane with like a shed mark (sic) on the side of their wing. So then we found out that they had hit us.”
Casey Cunningham was on the flight too, heading to Orlando for a Disney vacation with her mom. She said the crew was quick to let passengers know what happened.
“A few moments later, they updated us to let us know that another plane had come into contact with ours, but the flight attendants were so, you know, communicative, kept us up to date and really kind of dulled any concern that there was,” Cunningham said.
The Federal Aviation Administration will investigate, it said, adding in a preliminary statement that the impact occurred in an area of tarmac controlled by JetBlue.
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