A JetBlue plane was damaged on Monday after it collided with a pushback tractor after it left the gate at San Francisco International Airport and was preparing for departure to Boston.
Photos and videos shared on social media showed how the pushback tractor became wedged underneath the left-hand engine of the Airbus A321 aircraft, although the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed no one on the ground or onboard the plane was injured.
JetBlue flight 534 left the gate at around 1:40 pm on Monday but it didn’t get very far until it collided with the pushback tractor. The exact circumstances of how the tractor came to get wedged under the engine are still being investigated.
A spokesperson for JetBlue said affected passengers were offered alternative flight options, although the flight was eventually rescheduled on a smaller A320, which didn’t depart San Francisco until nearly 11 hours later.
The flight isn’t due to land in Boston until just before 8 am on Tuesday.
In a statement, the airline explained: “On Monday, November 6, JetBlue flight 534 was involved in an incident with a pushback tractor just after pushing back from the gate.”
“All customers have deplaned and are being offered alternate flight options. No injuries were reported. Safety is JetBlue’s first priority; we are reviewing this incident, and the aircraft has been taken out of service for inspection.”
Neither the FAA nor JetBlue confirmed how many passengers were onboard the aircraft.
