Two JetBlue planes touched while in a de-icing area at Boston Logan International Airport with passengers onboard, the Massachusetts Port Authority said Thursday.
The planes made contact when one winglet touched another plane's tail section, according to Massport. No injuries were reported.
A spokesperson for JetBlue said in a statement that both planes were taken out of service for repairs.
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"JetBlue flight 777 to Las Vegas and JetBlue flight 551 to Orlando will operate on other aircraft," wrote the spokesperson. "Safety is JetBlue’s priority, and we will work to determine how and why this incident occurred."
"Just a little after 6:30, there was a loud jolt," said Ryan Bates, who was on flight 777. "We had been told we were going to go de-ice the plane prior to takeoff."
Bates said his window shade was down, so he didn't see the planes touch but heard some passengers scream after the incident.
"I thought maybe we had gone past the runway or something like that," said Bates of North Andover, Massachusetts. "I opened my window shade and saw that we were really close to the other plane. We kept inching forward a little bit further."
Bates said an announcement wasn't made immediately, so passengers were left trying to figure out what was happening.
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"And then they came over the loudspeaker and said that we made contact with another plane...we're going to wait here and see what happens," he explained.
He said when the planes touched, "you felt a heavy jolt and I could see the damage because I was in a window seat over the wing."
"I could see the damage right away," said Bates. "It was fairly dark, so until there was light out, probably 20 minutes later, I could see a piece of the other plane on the ground behind that plane."
Bates said it was jarring that they hit the other plane that hard.
He said he was heading to Las Vegas for the Super Bowl and that this incident was just a minor speed bump for him.
"Hopefully, we'll still get there [and it'll] still be a great weekend and it'll be a lot of fun," said Bates.
Passengers told NBC10 Boston they've already been re-booked and should get to Las Vegas on another plane later Thursday.
This is the third plane collision at Logan airport in the last year. In March, A United Airlines plane leaving for Newark, New Jersey, made contact with another United plane that was set to fly to Denver. No injuries were reported.
Then in June, there was a low-speed collision between a United Airlines plane and a parked Delta Air Lines plane. No one was hurt in that incident.
“Ground operations are some of the most challenging for pilots,” said Mark Weinkrantz, a retired pilot with more than 35 years of experience. “The basic rule is you can explain away any incident or accident you have except the taxi incident because if you are not positive you are operating in a safe manner you use the brakes, you stop until you sure and then you move forward.”
Weinkrantz now works as an aviation expert and says deicing operations can be difficult.
“Deicing is a whole different kind of operation it takes things out of the normal flow for people even if they are familiar with an airport,” he said. “Somebody on the ground should have given the signal to stop, there should be wing walkers at every corner of these aircraft and their only job is to make sure the aircrafts are clear to proceed in a safe manner.
“If there is ever any doubt about the movement of an aircraft, especially on the ground, you just set the brakes, clarify, and then move forward,” he added.
