Two American Airlines jets clipped wings earlier Thursday at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. Fortunately, no one was injured, including several members of Congress who were waiting to depart.
🚨#BREAKING: Two American Airlines planes clipped wings at Reagan National Airport with some Congress being on board
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) April 10, 2025
📌#Washington | #DC
Two American Airlines planes clipped wings on the tarmac at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., earlier today. According to… pic.twitter.com/riBig4t4Zu
… According to officials, the incident occurred while one of the aircraft was taxiing and the other was preparing for departure. Fortunately, no injuries have been reported. All passengers and crew members were safely evacuated and removed from the aircraft as a precaution. Several members of Congress have confirmed they were on board one of the flights, though none were harmed.
As mentioned in that Fox News report, Congressman Nick LaLota posted about it on X, calling it a "once-in-a-lifetime experience" and saying he was thankful everyone was OK.
Then there was Rep. Josh Gottheimer, who reminded us of recent cuts of probationary employees at the FAA.
While waiting to take off on the runway at DCA just now, another plane struck our wing. Thankfully, everyone is safe.
— Rep Josh Gottheimer (@RepJoshG) April 10, 2025
Just a reminder: Recent cuts to the FAA weaken our skies and public safety.
Back in February, fewer than 400 probationary workers who'd been on the job for less than a year were cut from the FAA. New Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted on X that “Zero air traffic controllers and critical safety personnel were let go.” Nevertheless, there's been a microscope on every aviation mishap since then, with CNN even trying to tie a Delta plane flipping over in Toronto on President Donald Trump: "Trump Makes Cuts to FAA Amid String of Plane Accidents," CNN reported, ignoring that the latest plane accident happened in Canada.
Duffy replied:
Glad to hear everyone on board is safe.
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) April 10, 2025
But stop the fear mongering and let’s stick to the facts.
No safety-critical positions at the FAA have been cut.
I look forward to your support for @POTUS’ plan to build an all new, state of the art air traffic control system. https://t.co/h5ODy2znt0
Just a reminder: no air traffic controllers were fired. But recent cuts to the FAA weaken our public safety.
Liar.
— JimmyB 🇺🇸 (@MOTT7) April 10, 2025
— sarainitaly 🌷🌷🌷 (@sarainitaly) April 10, 2025
When a representative has to lie like this, all his decisions should be scrutinized
— Sue Conn (@SueConn73899798) April 10, 2025
Was the FAA the pilot of either of those planes?
— Dawgs Dog (@Callingalldawgz) April 10, 2025
Sorry about your delay
— Christopher Fishell (@chieffishell) April 10, 2025
However there have been NO recent cuts to air and ground traffic control personnel.
Enjoy your ratio, you walking turnip.
— Grateful Calvin (@shoveitjack) April 10, 2025
That's so cute. You tried to gaslight like the big boys and failed. Tooooo cute!
— SassyTok (@sassafras0910) April 10, 2025
— Jimmyjomax (@jimmyjomax) April 10, 2025
There is a proposed Community Note:
AA had nothing to do with the error. The pilot and ground crew of Rep Gottheimer's plane clipped the other plane, which was stationary. FAA had no control of the situation. It is misleading to attribute needing additional funding to FAA as there was no causational effect.
A few things, Josh:
— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) April 10, 2025
1. You were not in the sky
2. This is nothing beyond pilot error
3. This is an issue with a private company not the FAA
4. You are a lawn flamingo attempting to politicize an accident in which there were no injuries https://t.co/V1lzgKlU60
Was the pilot a DEI hire? We know we're not supposed to ask that, but just a reminder.
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