Los Angeles (ANTARA News) – U.S. air traffic authorities are investigating an accident overnight at San Francisco International Airport where two passenger planes collided outside the airport terminal, officials said Monday.
No one was injured in the incident when a United Airlines 757 jet, which did not have passengers, backed into a Skywest commuter jet with 56 passengers onboard, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The collision happened when the United Airline plane was being towed into a hangar for maintenance and the Skywest plane was backing away from the gate area.
The wings of both planes were damaged in the accident at around 07:30 p.m. local time.
FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said both planes were under the direction of the same air traffic controller, who is fully certified and has many years of experience at San Francisco airport.
“The controller appears to have pushed them both back at the same time,” said Gregor, who stressed the accident had nothing to do with runway safety.
“It`s a routine procedure. We`re still investigating, reviewing audio tapes and talking to the people involved,” he told Xinhua.(*)