JetBlue Plane Clips Empty Plane at JFK Airport Days After Near Collision at Same Facility

A JetBlue plane headed to Puerto Rico clipped another aircraft, which was empty, at JFK Airport Wednesday, building on the chaos that nearly ensued days earlier at the same airport.

“JetBlue Flight 1603 struck the tail of a parked JetBlue aircraft while pushing back from the gate around 7 a.m. at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York,” the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement.

“The flight was going to Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Both aircraft were Airbus 320. No injuries were reported, and the FAA will investigate,” the agency added.

JetBlue spokesman Derek Dombrowski confirmed to the New York Post that the aircraft “came into light contact with a parked unoccupied aircraft during pushback.”

The plane then returned to the gate. No injuries were reported. For the sake of safety, those on the flight were assigned to another aircraft.

“Safety is JetBlue’s first priority, and both aircraft involved will be taken out of service for inspection and the incident will be investigated,” Dombrowski added.

The incident comes mere days after two planes nearly collided on the runway at the same airport. In that near-incident, a Delta Air Lines Boeing 737 was cleared for takeoff but was forced to stop due to an American Airlines flight crossing the runway. According to reports, the aircraft were within 1,000 feet:

NTSB is investigating the Jan. 13 runway incursion at JFK airport involving an American Airlines Boeing 777 and a Delta Boeing 737.

— NTSB Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) January 15, 2023

Audio of the near-incident can be heard below:

All of this follows the FAA temporarily grounding flights due to a Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system outage last week, which the FAA is not attributing to a cyber attack. Prior to that, travelers were exposed to mass holiday travel chaos following a winter storm, leading to thousands of canceled flights. All of these incidents have put tremendous pressure and scrutiny on Transportation Secretary Pete Buttgieg, who critics believe has remained relatively aloof. However, President Biden is sticking by him. 

“He respects the Secretary in the work that he has been doing. You have seen the secretary on TV,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters last week.