Ground collision of Boeing planes sparks investigation

CHICAGO — A plane taxiing for departure clipped another aircraft at the Chicago O'Hare International Airport on Sunday evening, the Federal Aviation Administration said on Monday.

No injuries were reported and both planes were of Boeing design. The FAA said it will investigate the incident.

The left wing tip of Flight 11 from Japanese airline All Nippon Airways struck the rear of Delta Air Lines Flight 2122 on Sunday at around 6:30 pm, FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro said. The All Nippon Airways aircraft was a Boeing 777, and the Delta Air Lines aircraft was a Boeing 717.

US aircraft manufacturer Boeing faces increasing scrutiny following a series of mechanical failures and subsequent grounding of its Boeing 737 Max 9 model after an emergency exit door failed and caused an emergency landing last week. It was not immediately clear what caused the incident on Sunday and whether it was related to a manufacturing flaw.

Boeing representatives did not provide a comment on Monday regarding the collision at O'Hare and instead directed The Associated Press to speak with the airlines involved and the FAA.

Delta spokesperson Emma Johnson said on Monday afternoon by phone that the All Nippon Airways aircraft clipped the Delta plane while it was parking at a gate after arriving at O'Hare from Detroit.

"Customers deplaned normally at the gate and the aircraft are being evaluated by Delta's maintenance technicians," the company said in a statement by email.

Raymond Bongalon, a customer service representative with All Nippon Airways, said on Monday afternoon that the airline could not yet provide any information on what happened.

The airline's flight status search said Flight 11 was bound for Tokyo, but canceled because of "aircraft inspection".

The Chicago Department of Aviation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Monday, Boeing said it will add further quality inspections for the 737 Max after a midair blowout of a cabin panel in an Alaska Airlines Max 9 earlier this month, the head of its commercial airplanes division said.

In a letter to Boeing employees, Stan Deal, president of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said the plane maker will also deploy a team to supplier Spirit AeroSystems, which makes and installs the plug door involved in the incident, to check and approve Spirit's work on the plugs before fuselages are sent to Boeing's production facilities in Washington State.

Agencies via Xinhua