KLM and EasyJet Planes Collide During Pushback

A KLM aircraft and an EasyJet plane both suffered damage following a slow-speed collision at Schiphol Airport. According to eyewitnesses, the wing of the London-bound EasyJet plane made contact with the tail section of a Madrid-bound KLM aircraft during pushback from the gate. Authorities investigating the cause of the accident say no injuries were reported.

Passengers on two separate flights departing Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) received an unwelcome jolt on Tuesday after a KLM passenger jet and another aircraft operated by EasyJet made contact as at least one of the planes was being backed away from the gate. According to an eyewitness, the slow speed collision left the EasyJet plane’s wing lodged in the tail section of the KLM aircraft.

“This morning, a KLM Boeing 737-800 that was ready to leave for Madrid hit another aircraft during the push-back [from] the gate,” KLM spokesperson Manel Vrijenhoek told USA TODAY. “The passengers were never in danger and nobody got hurt.”

An Easyjet official later confirmed that a London Gatwick Airport (LGW)-bound flight was also involved in the accident. Both carriers say they are still investigating the cause of the collision. The EasyJet flight was reportedly delayed for approximately five hours until a replacement aircraft became available. The Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suárez Airport (MAD)-bound KLM aircraft was also taken out of service and passengers were put on replacement equipment following a nearly two-hour delay.

“So my @easyJet plane hits smashed into a @KLM plane at @Schipol,” one affected passenger wrote in a Tuesday morning Twitter post. “Guess I’m stuck here for a while.”

https://twitter.com/SheikKangaroo/status/1148496946853752833?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” rel=”nofollow

Meanwhile, another passenger on the same flight had a decidedly less dramatic take on all the excitement, telling BBC News the impact was “a bit of a jolt,” but that it was “nothing unusual.”

[Featured Image: Wikimedia/ Ardfern]

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