Planes clip wings at Salt Lake City airport

Published: Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009 6:36 p.m. MST
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Southwest Airlines passengers heading to Albuquerque Sunday morning were evacuated from a plane after it clipped wings with a FedEx cargo plane.

The incident is under investigation, but Salt Lake City International Airport personnel say it appears the Southwest 737 plane was pushing away from the gate when it clipped wings with the cargo plane, shearing off a piece of the Southwest plane's wing.

Both planes were damaged, said airport spokeswoman Barbara Gann.

A 21-year-old University of New Mexico student who was returning to Albuquerque, after attending the University of Utah-BYU football game on Saturday, said passengers panicked when they felt the impact.

"I was just sitting there and felt this big jolt," Russell Jordan said. "We looked over and saw a chunk of our wing laying on the ground."

Jordan said he heard from other passengers that most connecting flights waited for the people who were delayed and that he made it home two hours later than intended.

"I was going to be mad if we were late, especially after the Utes lost," Jordan said. "I put off all my homework to the end of the weekend for that game."

No one was injured in the incident.

— Lana Groves

Recent comments

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Rebecca Chauncey | Dec. 6, 2009 at 2:31 p.m.

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