The collision occurred around 12:45 p.m. when American Airlines Flight 4522, an Embraer E175 bound for New York, struck Flight 5490, a Bombardier CRJ 900 scheduled to fly to South Carolina, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), as reported by CNN.
Flight 4522 was carrying seven members of Congress among its 67 passengers. The collision damaged one plane's winglet, prompting both flights to be postponed for safety assessments.
All 143 passengers from both planes were safely transferred to other aircraft to continue their travel plans, Reuters reported. Authorities are currently investigating the cause of the incident.
An American Airlines plane carrying several members of Congress at Reagan Washington National Airport was struck on the taxiway by the wingtip of another American Airlines airplane, the Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday.
American Airlines Flight 5490 — a Bombardier CRJ 900 headed to Charleston, South Carolina — struck American Flight 4522 — an Embraer E175 which was headed to New York JFK, around 12:45 p.m. ET, the FAA said. No injuries were reported, two lawmakers onboard said.
At least two members of Congress from New York were onboard one of the planes involved in Thursday’s ground collision at Washington’s Reagan National Airport, according to a social media post by Rep. Nick LaLota, Republican from New York.
NBC News reported that a total of five lawmakers were on board American Airlines Flight 4522, which was struck by another aircraft while taxiing.
Flight tracking data from FlightAware shows that Flight 4522, operated by Republic Airways, was scheduled to depart DCA at 12:30 p.m. and land at New York’s JFK Airport roughly 90 minutes later.
Social media users Rich (@RosnaRecaps) and Mark Elion (@get_sumner) confirmed the incident on social media with the former sharing a photo of the planes from a separate flight he was on which was stopped on the runway due to the incident. Elion posted on X from one of the flights affected.
Gregory Gillian, another passenger aboard one of the planes, sent a video from inside one of the planes to NBC News and also shared it on X.
