An American Airlines plane going to Charleston, South Carolina, clipped a plane carrying members of Congress at Reagan Washington International Airport. There were no injuries.
“Serving in Congress has come with some once in a lifetime experiences… like just now while stationary on the runway at DCA, another plane just bumped into our wing,” Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY) wrote on X. “Heading back to the gate, but thankfully everyone is ok! (And @RepGraceMeng is handing out grapes!)”
“While waiting on the runway to fly out of DC today, another plane clipped the wing of the plane my colleagues and I were on,” Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) said on social media. “Fortunately, everyone is okay & we’re heading back to New York soon. Thank you to all who reached out with your concerns!”
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) told ABC News Live that it was “pretty clear that we got hit.” He explained he and his colleagues waited about 45 minutes before they could move.
“The key is now to make sure we’re doing, from an oversight perspective, everything possible to make sure that the FAA is taking appropriate action, not just to investigate what happened, but going forward to protect all of our airports,” he said.
Gottheimer and Meng further told ABC News that terminated FAA positions should be restored.
Last month, a Delta Air Lines plane narrowly avoided a midair collision with a U.S. Air Force T-38 jet on Friday near Reagan Washington National Airport, marking another close call just months after a tragic January crash near the airport claimed 67 lives. Similarly, an American Airlines flight was forced to abort its landing at the airport in February to avoid a potential collision with another aircraft.
