An airplane clipped another stationary airplane’s wings on Thursday at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. While no injuries were reported from the airplane incident, multiple members of Congress were on the stationary aircraft at the time of the incident.
According to NBC News, both of the airplanes involved in Thursday’s incident were American Airlines planes. In a statement obtained by the outlet, American Airlines said, “American Eagle flight 5490, operated by PSA Airlines, made contact on a DCA taxiway with American Eagle flight 4522, operated by Republic Airways.”
Citing both the Federal Aviation Administration and American Airlines, NBC News reported that American Eagle Flight 5490 was a Bombardier CRJ 900 and had 76 passengers and four crew members, while American Eagle Flight 4522 was an Embraer E175 and had 67 passengers and four crew members. According to NBC News, the incident at Reagan National Airport took place at roughly 12:45 p.m. on Thursday.
Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y) shared a picture of the two airplanes following Thursday’s incident. The congressman tweeted, “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!”
Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) shared a video on social media of one of the two airplanes involved in Thursday’s incident. Meng confirmed that the damaged airplane wing was being fixed and that none of the airplane passengers were injured in the incident.
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“While waiting on the runway to fly out of DC today, another plane clipped the wing of the plane my colleagues and I were on,” Meng wrote in a caption alongside the video. “Fortunately, everyone is okay & we’re heading back to New York soon.”
Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y) released a statement claiming that seven members of Congress were on the airplane when the wing was clipped on Thursday. Meeks argued that Thursday’s “close call” demonstrates the “urgent need for more FAA funding—people’s lives are at stake.” He added, “Cuts and firing FAA employees are not the answer.”
In response to a tweet by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) that appeared to blame the Trump administration’s cuts to the Federal Aviation Administration for Thursday’s incident, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote, “Glad to hear everyone on board is safe. But stop the fear mongering and let’s stick to the facts. No safety-critical positions at the FAA have been cut. I look forward to your support for @POTUS’ plan to build an all new, state of the art air traffic control system.”
