Travelers in Tennessee got more than they bargained for Saturday when two Southwest Airlines planes collided on the tarmac of Nashville International Airport.
According to The Associated Press, Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Michelle Agnew revealed Flight 1555 was pushing back from the gate in preparation for a flight to St. Louis Saturday night when its winglet struck another plane.
Southwest Flight 4580 was also getting ready to push back from the gate en route to Atlanta when its winglet was struck by Flight 1555. Agnew also said there were no reported injuries as a result of the incident.
Witnesses on the scene said it was raining at the time of the collision and a Twitter user shared an image of one of the planes with a broken winglet:
#BREAKING: 2 Southwest Airlines planes have collided at Nashville International Airport. No reports of injuries. You can see the “S” on one plane was clipped during the collision. credit @HundredproofEB pic.twitter.com/KXxeqQb1go
— #Ashtag (@AshleyZarach) July 21, 2019
According to FlightAware.com, Nashville International experienced 120 flight delays and four cancelations Saturday, but it remains unclear how much the collision contributed to the disrupted service.
Southwest officials said in a statement that both planes returned to the gate under their own power and were taken out of service to be evaluated. As for the impacted customers on both flights, they were booked onto new flights and continued to their scheduled destinations.
