A JetBlue plane scheduled to depart New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to Puerto Rico was delayed Wednesday after colliding with an empty JetBlue plane while moving toward a taxiing position.
JetBlue Flight 1603 made slight contact with the tail of a parked JetBlue plane while backing up from its gate at around 7 a.m., according to USA Today.
The occupied plane then returned to the gate and deplaned its passengers, who were moved onto another aircraft. No injuries were reported.
An unnamed passenger aboard Flight 1603’s initial plane told WNBC-TV of New York that the pilot told fliers the collision occurred with the plane behind them. The passenger said he did not feel anything caused by the bumping between the aircraft.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident, and both aircraft have been removed from service.
JetBlue has not responded to a request for comment from The Washington Times.
The JetBlue mishap comes just days after two planes containing passengers, on Delta Air Lines and American Airlines, nearly collided on a runway at JFK Friday night.
The Delta flight was told to halt takeoff by an air traffic controller and stopped around 1,000 feet from where the American Airlines flight was crossing the runway, according to an FAA statement posted on Twitter by a Reuters wire agency reporter.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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