Two United Airlines Planes Clip Wings at San Francisco International Airport in Second Incident Within a Month
- Victor Nwoko
- May 7
- 2 min read
Two United Airlines planes clipped wings at San Francisco International Airport early Tuesday in the second such incident in the U.S. in less than a month, prompting a federal investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
United Airlines Flight 863, bound for Sydney, Australia, was pushing back from the gate around 12:30 a.m. local time when its right wingtip made contact with the left wingtip of United Airlines Flight 877, which was scheduled to depart for Hong Kong. According to the FAA, the collision occurred in an area of the airport where air traffic controllers do not directly communicate with flight crews.
No injuries were reported in the incident, and all passengers on both aircraft were able to safely deplane. United Airlines stated that customers affected by the disruption are being rebooked on alternate flights.
This incident follows a similar occurrence in April at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, where two American Airlines regional jets also bumped wings on a taxiway. In that case, American Airlines Flight 5490, en route to Charleston, South Carolina, struck the wingtip of Flight 4522, which was bound for JFK International Airport in New York. Seven members of Congress were reportedly onboard Flight 4522 at the time of the collision.
The April incident took place amid heightened scrutiny of operations at the Washington airport, which has faced a series of recent safety concerns. These include a fatal mid-air collision in January that killed 67 people and a military flyover in March that narrowly missed a departing civilian plane. The March flyover triggered a federal investigation into a potential breakdown in air traffic control communications.
The FAA has launched separate investigations into both the San Francisco and Washington National Airport incidents as part of ongoing efforts to improve runway and taxiway safety.
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