United Airlines' Boeing 777 jet clipped the wingtip of another United plane while being pushed back from the gate at San Francisco International Airport early Tuesday morning, urging the cancellation of two trans-Pacific flights carrying more than 500 passengers, officials said.
No one was injured during the disaster, the latest incident that scrutinized US commercial aviation safety procedures.
The brush between the two planes occurred around 12:35am, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. This said the plane was piloting in areas where the planes do not communicate with the squadron.
The right-wing tip cut off the left-wing tip of the flight departing for Hong Kong, the FAA said in a statement as one of the Boeing 777s left the gate to Sydney, Australia. The video, which appears to have been shot from one of the airport's terminals, showed workers standing on a hydraulic lift examining the point where two wings were cut out.
An airport spokesman introduced United Airlines questions about the incident.
According to the airline, the plane to Hong Kong had 306 passengers and 16 crew members on top of it, and there were 202 and 16 crew members during the flight to Sydney. United did not say what damage the plane suffered or what led to the accident.
United said it is working to re-book passengers on other flights.
The accident occurred at the time of rising uncertainty over commercial aviation in the United States. It's a week after an air traffic controller temporarily lost communication with the plane at Newar Liberty International Airport following other accidents, confusion and flight path issues. The breakdown of communications in Newark prompted hundreds of delays and cancellations, in addition to dozens of flight detours. United said last week it cut its daily flight schedule in Newark and cited a shortage of air traffic controllers.
Last month, two American Airlines jets, including one carrying at least six members of New York and New Jersey legislatures, cut their wings on a taxiway at Ronald Reagan National Airport, outside Washington.
No one was injured in the incident, but it brought new scrutiny to the airport safely. There, on January 29th, an American Airlines regional jet was struck by an Army helicopter, killing all 67 people on two aircraft. That crash was the fatalest in the United States for the first time in 20 years.
On Thursday, air traffic controllers directed two commercial flights to land at Reagan Airport as U.S. Army helicopters were preparing to land nearby the Pentagon, adding that the FAA is investigating it.
Shortly after those cancelled flights, the Army said it had suspended training flights around the Pentagon, Reuters reported.
