Summary
- Costly aircraft scrape at PHL causes delays for American Airlines passengers.
- No injuries were reported, but there was a significant disruption as both planes were taken out of service.
- Airport and airline staff worked quickly to minimize delays, but a four-hour delay still occurred.
On Monday (and no, this is not an April 1 Fools Joke), one very expensive aircraft was backing out of its parking spot at Philadelphia International Airport when it scraped along the side of another very expensive aircraft parked next to it. While that happens most days at a shopping center or mall car park, thankfully, it is relatively rare at an airport, although it does seem to be on the rise.
A costly lapse for American
On Monday morning, American Airlines flight 847 from Philadelphia International (PHL) to Charlotte was fully loaded and pushing back from its gate to prepare for take-off when one of its wings made contact with another American Airlines jet parked at the adjacent gate. News reports clearly show the damage along the fuselage of the parked aircraft, and after the contact, passengers and crews deplaned, and both aircraft were taken out of service.
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock
With details scarce, my Simple Flying colleague Channing Reid reached out to American Airlines to find out what happened. In response, the airline provided him with the following brief statement:
“During pushback from the gate in Philadelphia (PHL), the wing tip of American Airlines flight 847, with service from PHL to Charlotte (CLT), made contact with a parked aircraft. Customers and crew deplaned normally and both aircraft were taken out of service to be inspected by our maintenance team. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience this caused, and our team is working to get them on their way as soon as possible.”
Significant disruption for passengers
American Airlines (American) flight 847 was scheduled to depart Philadelphia International on Monday at 10:31, but with a replacement aircraft needed after the scrape, it did not leave until 14:52, according to flight tracking data from Flightradar24. Coming off the bench to operate the flight was a 2000 Airbus A320-200, registration N123UW and MSN 01310, that left PHL at 14:52 and landed at Charlotte Douglas International (CLT) at 16:05, close to four hours later than the scheduled arrival of 12:25.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
According to footage shown by news outlet 6abc, the parked plane was an American Airlines 2011 Airbus A321-200, registration N543UW and MSN 04843, scheduled to operate flight 1311 to Orlando, Florida. That flight was scheduled to depart at 10:57 and arrive in Orlando at 13:46 but was delayed until 15:36 and ultimately landed at 17:34, with the service operated by a 2012 Airbus A321-200 registered N562UW and MSN 05332.
Photo: Philip Pilosian | Shutterstock
The Flightradar24 data for N543UW (the parked A321) shows it arrived in Philadelphia from Southwest Florida International (RSW) at 09:29 on Monday, and no further movements were shown, with the jet still on the ground at PHL. At this early stage, the precise details of the errant aircraft have not been made available but will be added to this story when they are confirmed.
The good news is that no injuries were reported during the incident, and it appears that the airport and American Airlines staff followed their procedures to minimize delays. However, a four-hour delay is still considerable, particularly if a traveler is doing a return flight on the same day.
How can these events be prevented in the future? Let us know in the comments.
