An incident at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) has seen two Southwest Airlines aircraft clip each other as they were leaving the gate on Monday. The two aircraft, which were attempting to depart for flights to Hartford and Houston, backed into each other, causing minor damage to the planes’ wingtips. Following the occurance, both aircraft were removed from service, and passengers were reaccommodated onto alternative aircraft.

Fortunately, no passengers or crew have been reported to have been injured in the incident. The FAA is now investigating the mishap with claims that the two planes were in a no-communication area. This is where the controllers typically have no communication with the crew.

Southwest Airlines Incident at Baltimore Airport

Credit: Denver International Airport

As suggested in the report by CBS News, airlines have previously claimed that navigating the gates at BWI can be challenging, and patience and awareness are needed to maneuver airplanes safely. It takes a bit of geometry’. The incident, which occurred on the evening of Monday, May 4, can be reviewed on Live ATC, where the pilot for Southwest flight 1018 can be heard relaying the air traffic controllers description of the event.

“Hey, ground, Southwest 1048, we had contact between the 2 aircraft back here,” the pilot said. “We’re going to need to taxi straight ahead back to Alpha 7.”

While the aircraft registrations for the affected aircraft are not widely reported, it remains unclear at this time when the two Boeing 737 planes will return to regular service. Even minor damage necessitates the plane being grounded until the lighter composite materials in the winglets are repaired. These are designed to break, which can save further damage from being transferred into the wing structure.

Late Departures After Changing Planes

Credit: Shutterstock

WN562 was a flight from Baltimore to Houston Hobby Airport (HOU), and following the event, the usual 9:50 PM departure was pushed back until after midnight after passengers and crew were forced to change planes. The service eventually got wheels up around 1:03 AM the morning of Tuesday, May 5, arriving in Houston at 3:00 AM, almost two hours and 45 minutes behind its initial scheduled arrival time.

The Southwest flight WN1048 to Bradley International Airport (BDL), also known as Windsor Locks or Hartford, was also inevitably delayed, with that service also expected to have departed at 9:50 PM, but did not get airborne until 1:23 AM the next morning. It eventually arrived at BDL at 2:21 AM after the 49-minute flight. Its initial scheduled arrival time was 11:10 PM.

Both flights were operated by the airline’s Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, which features a single class layout catering for up to 175 economy class passengers. The two planes, which are now damaged, will likely remain out of service for a period until they have been inspected for damage, and undertake safety inspections and repairs. While damage may seem severe, often mechanics are needed to evaluate the damage to understand the integrity of the wing and how much of the aircraft has been compromised.

Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI)

Credit: BWI

Thurgood Marshall Airport is a busy hub for Southwest Airlines, and the airport is one of the busiest in the Baltimore / Washington metropolitan area. The airport is located around nine miles (14 km) from downtown Baltimore, and 30 miles (50 km) from the center of Washington D.C. The airport is home to three runways:

The airport is dominated by Southwest operations, with the world’s largest low-cost carrier maintaining around 70% of all flight operations as per data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Southwest operates a total of 69 year-round and 11 seasonal destinations, with these 80 routes going to 68 domestic and 12 international destinations.

Baltimore, while primarily catering for short-haul flights, also welcomes two European carriers with year-round flights from British Airways to London Heathrow Airport (LHR), and Icelandair to Reykjavik Keflavik International Airport (KEF). Looking at the airport’s top ten domestic routes, Southwest operates on all of these, including the busiest route to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) which sees more than 700,000 passengers travel between the two cities per annum.