Maintaining adequate separation between aircraft on the ground is just as important as in the sky. There have been several incidents in recent months in which airplanes have either collided with one another or with other objects and vehicles at airports, and one more has been added to the list at Chicago O’Hare involving planes of American Airlines and United Airlines.
Incident at Chicago O’Hare
On January 8, two aircraft made physical contact at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) as they were preparing for their respective flights. One of them was a Boeing 737 aircraft belonging to American Airlines
and the other was a Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner operating for United Airlines.
CBS News cites the Federal Aviation Administration that said that the 737 hit the tail of United’s 787 while taxiing on different taxiways. The incident is reported to have occurred at around 09:50 in the morning.
Photo: Ronen Fefer | Shutterstock
The narrowbody plane was operating flight AA1979 for American Airlines between Chicago O’Hare and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), while the Dreamliner was assigned flight UA 619 between Chicago and Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) in Honolulu.
Simple Flying reached out to both American Airlines and United Airlines
for comments. At the time of writing, American replied with the following statement:
“During taxi-out at Chicago (ORD), American Airlines flight 1979, with service from ORD to Los Angeles (LAX), made contact with a nearby aircraft on the taxiway. Customers deplaned normally at the gate and departed on a replacement aircraft around 1 p.m. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience this caused.”
The wing tip of the 737 made contact with the tail of the United Dreamliner. Thankfully, there were no injuries reported.
United Airlines, too, arranged for an alternative aircraft to fly its passengers to Honolulu. Of course, both flights were delayed due to the incident.
About the aircraft
The Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner of United Airlines involved in the incident is registered as N14016. According to ch-aviation, it is a 2.7-year-old aircraft that has been operating for the carrier since December 2022.
It has accumulated more than 6,300 flight hours as of April 2024 across 809 flight cycles. The plane can accommodate 318 passengers across four cabin classes: 199 in economy, 54 in economy plus, 21 in premium economy, and 44 in business class. According to Flightradar24, the aircraft is scheduled to fly between Chicago and Frankfurt for the next few days.
Photo: Felix Tchvertkin | Shutterstock
The other plane involved in the incident, a Boeing 737-800 belonging to American Airlines, is registered as N988NN. Per ch-aviation, it is 8.88 years old and delivered to American in March 2016.
It has accumulated more than 24,000 flight hours as of July 2024 across 10,441 flight cycles. It can accommodate 172 passengers across three classes: 126 in economy, 30 in economy plus, and 18 in business class, according to ch-aviation.
However, unlike the United aircraft, Flightradar24 does not show any flights scheduled for the 737 in the coming days. This is likely because the plane has been grounded for a detailed inspection.
Photo: Robin Guess | Shutterstock
Similar incidents
This is not the first time that two planes have made physical contact at an airport. In fact, there have been several such incidents in recent months. In November 2024, an American Airlines Boeing 777-200ER and a Frontier Airlines Airbus A321
clipped wings on the tarmac at Boston Logan International Airport (BOS)
.
The 777 had arrived from London Heathrow Airport while the Frontier plane was scheduled to depart for Dallas. It was pulling into its gate at Boston when it made contact with the Frontier aircraft. Thankfully, no injuries were reported.
In April 2024, a United Airlines Airbus A319 accidentally clipped the wing of another United aircraft at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). Both planes involved were briefly unable to move, and it was only when the ground crew intervened that the passengers could deplane normally.
Photo: lorenzatx | Shutterstock
In April, two American Airlines jets made physical contact with each other at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL). One of the planes was fully loaded and pushing back from its gate to prepare for take-off when one of its wings made contact with another American Airlines jet parked at the adjacent gate.

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