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This is just very strange…
United Boeing 737 damaged by vehicle at Chicago O’Hare
This incident happened on Saturday, August 26, 2023, and involves a United Airlines Boeing 737-900ER with the registration code N75425. Shortly before the 7PM, the roughly 15-year-old Boeing 737 had just arrived in Chicago (ORD) from Punta Cana (PUJ), and was parked at gate M37 at Terminal 5.
Per security camera footage shared online by @xJonNYC, you can see that an American Airlines service cart smashing into the right side of the nose of a parked United Airlines aircraft. As you can see, the vehicle is first driving along the side of the terminal, before making a sharp right turn, and then hitting the nose. It’s pretty wild how you can see the plane “bounce” a bit when it’s hit.
Fortunately nobody was seriously injured, though there is substantial damage to both the aircraft and the cart.
What could cause an incident like this?
With the amount of stuff going on at airports, accidents are bound to happen every once in a while. However, this is one of the stranger ones. It’s one thing to see two carts collide while driving, or to see the wing tips of two aircraft hit one another.
But in this case the cart is clearly operating in an area with gates, where aircraft are parked. The cart goes around a tight corner, and then smashes into the plane.
I’m sure a full investigation will be conducted, though it seems like this is most likely to be attributed to one of two things:
- Was this the driver’s fault, and were they just really distracted? I have a hard time imagining that’s the case, since the driver had to make a sharp turn prior to hitting the aircraft, so you’d think they would be focused, as it’s not like they were driving straight for a long distance
- Was there some sort of a mechanical issue with the cart? Based on the acceleration and the speed at which the cart goes around the corner, one has to wonder if maybe the accelerator was stuck, or something
Bottom line
A United Airlines Boeing 737 sustained some significant damage while parked at a gate, after an American Airlines cart slammed into it. We see accidents at airports every once in a while, though this has to be one of the more unusual accidents we’ve seen.
What do you make of this Boeing 737 incident at Chicago O’Hare?
