A plane carrying at least a half-dozen U.S. House of Representatives members was clipped by another aircraft on the ground at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C., on Thursday, officials said.
U.S. Reps. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., Grace Meng, D-N.Y., and Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., all confirmed on social media they were aboard the American Airlines plane that was clipped at about 12:45 p.m.
Two of those lawmakers also confirmed that U.S. Reps Adriano Espaillat and Ritchie Torres, both Democrats from New York, were also aboard that craft.
Meeks said a total of seven “members of Congress were on board along with dozens of other concerned passengers.”
Both planes were connected to American Airlines, the FAA and airline both said.
“American Eagle flight 5490, operated by PSA Airlines, made contact on a DCA taxiway with American Eagle flight 4522, operated by Republic Airways,” American Airlines said in a statement. “Safety is our top priority, and we apologize to our customers for their experience.”
There were no injuries, the airline said.
Flight 5490 was a Bombardier CRJ 900, headed for Charleston, South Carolina, and carrying 76 customers and four crew members, the FAA and airline said.
Flight 4522 was an Embraer E175, bound for John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City with 67 travelers and four crew on board, officials said.
“While waiting to take off on the runway at DCA just now, another plane struck our wing,” Gottheimer said in a statement posted to X. “Thankfully, everyone is safe. Just a reminder: Recent cuts to the FAA weaken our skies and public safety.”
While Gottheimer took note of the potential danger posed by Thursday’s bump, LaLota look a slightly more light-hearted view.
“Serving in Congress has come with some once in a lifetime experiences… like just now while stationary on the runway at DCA, another plane just bumped into our wing,” he wrote on X. “Heading back to the gate, but thankfully everyone is ok! (And @RepGraceMeng is handing out grapes!).”
An American Eagle jet and a military Black Hawk helicopter collided in the air over DCA on Jan. 29, killing all 67 people aboard both crafts.
Jay Blackman, Janhvi Bhojwani and Syedah Asghar contributed.
