As if the recent plane crashes in DC and Philadelphia didn’t scare people enough from flying, two aircraft at Seattle Airport have collided with each other, one slicing its wing through the other’s tail. More specifically, a Japan Airlines plane slammed its wing into a Delta passenger jet that was filled with people. Thankfully, unlike the incident in DC, both aircraft were on the ground, and no one was injured by the accident. That isn’t to say, however, that no one was traumatized by the event.
A passenger on the Delta jet that had its tail sliced from the plane crash said that the accident was “loud” and “very scary.” Posting to X, the flight’s traveler said, “So, we were sitting on the tarmac at SeaTac and another plane ran into us, just casually sliced into our tail.” They claimed the impact was strong enough that the whole plane shook, giving everyone on board quite the scare. Fortunately, the tension didn’t last too long, as the post’s second video shows passengers chuckling about the situation as they were being driven away from the collision scene at Seattle Airport.
The reason behind this plane crash might have been because the two “aircraft were in an area that is not under air traffic control,” according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Speaking to Newsweek in a statement, the FAA reports that “The right wing of Japan Airlines Flight 68 struck the tail of Delta Air Lines Flight 1921 while the planes were taxiing at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport around 10:40 a.m. local time on Wednesday, Feb. 5.” Although no one was hurt, this accident must have been an inconvenient nightmare for dozens of travelers since “some flights to the airport were temporarily paused as a result of the incident.”
“Knowing Japanese culture, the captain is cooked,” comments a Redditor, referring to how strict Japanese work standards are known to be. “Looks like JAL was fifty feet right of the taxiway centerline. Even in American culture, the JAL captain has some explaining to do,” another remarks in agreement. One user joked that this situation is the perfect opportunity for the “Asoh defense,” which refers to the Japan Airlines incident in the 1960s when a pilot mistakenly ditched the plane in a bay near the airport. The pilot, Asoh, bluntly accepted his failure with the quote, “As you Americans say, I f***ed up.”
This Seattle Airport plane collision certainly wasn’t as scary as the Asoh’s blunder or as tragic as the crashes in DC and Northeast Philadelphia. However, three plane accidents occurring within the span of about a week will undoubtedly have an alarming effect on the public’s perception of travel by flight.
