Comment by gnabgib
9 days ago
Not sure that a wing clip while taxiing warrants the headline Planes collide, although it certainly is going to delay your flight, no plane was in the air.
> The wingtip of American Airlines Flight 5490 struck American Airlines Flight 4522 on a taxiway at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
Fits the definition though. I'd note two things:
(1) Lots of accidents and near-misses involving 50-seat planes from Bombardier and Embraer. There's a little told story that if you live in a small town like Ithaca, NY your airport sucks and is going to go out of business because of those little planes. Manufacturers know they suck and quit making them in favor of 70-seat planes that the pilot unions won't let major airlines fly in the US. The 70-seaters would have much better economics and would lower fares and attract more business such that they'd have no problem filling them from small airports.
(2) Lots of incidents are getting in the media post the Reagan collision that you couldn't even dignify with "near miss" such as "pilot forgot his passport and plane had to turn around" (if I was the pilot I would have dissembled... I mean, what are they go doing to do to you, send you back on the next plane?) or "passenger lost her phone and plane had to turn around"
The headline is obvious clickbait.