An American Eagle jet set to leave Washington, D.C. for New York on Thursday afternoon clipped wings with another aircraft on the runway at Ronald Reagan National Airport. One of the planes had at least seven members of Congress on board, according to a report from NBC News. No injuries were reported as a result of the incident, and both planes were able to return to the terminal for inspection, according to a statement from American Airlines given to the BBC.
The two flights involved in the grounded collision were American Eagle flight 5490, operated by PSA Airlines, headed to Charleston International Airport in South Carolina, and the Republic Airways-operated American Eagle flight 4522, which was headed to JFK International Airport in New York with members of Congress on board. The wingtip of Flight 5490 struck Flight 4522 on the runway around 12:45pm local time.
According to American Airlines, there were 67 passengers on board the flight headed to Charleston and 76 on the flight to New York. The latter included Democratic Representatives Gregory Meeks, Grace Meng, Josh Gottheimer, Adriano Espaillat, and Ritchie Torres and Republican Nick LaLota, all of whom have been confirmed to be on board. Meeks posted that seven members of Congress in total were on the flight.
It’s unclear what led to the collision at this stage, and the Federal Aviation Administration said it is investigating. The Trump administration has already insisted that the incident had nothing to do with staffing cuts or shortages at the FAA, particularly as it relates to air traffic controllers. “There have been no cuts to air traffic controllers, safety personnel, or safety-critical positions at the FAA,” the White House’s “official rapid response account” posted.
Democratic Representative Gottheimer, who was on the flight, posted that “Recent cuts to the FAA weaken our skies and public safety,” which prompted the White House’s reply. The Trump administration did in fact fire air traffic controllers, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy admitted “less than 400” were let go. The administration did hire some of those people back, but seems to remain understaffed.
Just this week, Tim Arel, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic organization, stepped down from his post after taking the administration’s voluntary deferred retirement program. Reuters reported that the FAA is about 3,500 air traffic controllers short of targeted staffing levels.
Notably, a fatal accident occurred near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport just two months ago when a commercial airliner carrying 64 passengers collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River. That was just one of a number of accidents and close calls that have happened during the first months of the Trump administration.
