Early this morning, a pickup truck hit a Southwest plane that landed at Baltimore-Washington International Airport. Unfortunately, this collision is the third accident Southwest Airlines has had in just over a month. While details of the crash are still forthcoming, it appears that no one was injured in the accident.
Southwest Flight 6263 landed at 12:46am on Monday morning after a departure from Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Sunday night. Passengers on board reported that a white pickup truck hit the Boeing 737 as it made its way to the gate.
One passenger, Christopher Pratt, shared, “All of a sudden there was a smash, and it startled everyone. It was pretty loud. The people across the aisle said a truck just smashed into the side of a plane.”
Photos of the incident show a ground vehicle pinned below the front of the plane, with pieces of the pumper strewn across the tarmac.
At this point, Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport hasn’t issued any statements.
Southwest Airlines is yet to offer an official comment on the incident. However, on Twitter, Southwest Airlines responded to one passenger, Michael Simon, saying they were “glad to hear everyone made it safely to BWI”, and that they regretted any inconvenience the accident caused.
An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the accident. Fortunately all 172 passengers are safe and unharmed. Nonetheless, this marks the third incident for Southwest Airlines in just over a month. No doubt, this will have a negative impact on the airline company in the weeks and months to follow.