An American AirlinesAirbus A319 made an unfortunate contact with a neighbouring de-icing truck at one of America’s busiest airports on Friday, January 30, leading to passengers being stuck onboard for several hours before being deplaned and moved to a new aircraft.

The flight, American Airlines 2121, as first reported by NBC Chicago, was set to fly between Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) and Boston Logan International Airport (BOS). No passengers or crew were reported as injured following the incident. The aircraft affected, a 12-year-old Airbus A319-115, has remained out of service since the incident, still sitting on the apron at ORD.

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Passengers were already onboard AA2121 on Friday, getting settled to make the short two-hour flight from the Windy City to Boston. However, during movement, the aircraft made contact with a de-icing truck, causing damage to the airplane. The passengers on board remained stranded on the plane for up to two hours before the decision was made to replace the aircraft with another for the flight.

The contact occurred during the final moments of the de-icing process, and the plane was starting to push back from gate K8 at ORD. During the plane’s backing away from the gate, the plane made contact. American Airlines shared the following comment to NBC Chicago following the incident:

Departure Seven Hours Later

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Initially planned to depart at 1:25 pm, the short flight to Boston was delayed until an eventual departure at 8:16, after passengers were deplaned and put onto a replacement Airbus A321-200. This led to quite the delay, with the flight still in the air at the time of writing, it’s now expected to touchdown at approximately 11:22 pm as per Flightradar24.

According to ch-aviation, the A319 (registration N9013A) is a 12.3-year-old A319-115, having taken its first test flight back on October 4, 2013, under German Airbus registration D-AVXM. It was then delivered to American Airlines on November 6, 2013, where it was given the US registration it currently holds. It is configured to carry up to 128 passengers, including eight in Domestic Class, and 120 in Main Cabin.

The replacement aircraft, N903AA, is a 8.7 year old Airbus A321-231, which took its first test flight on May 10, 2017, under French Airbus registration F-WZMC. The plane was later delivered to AA on May 26, 2017, where it was given the US registration it continues to operate under. It is configured to carry up to 190 passengers, across 20 Domestic First, and 170 Main Cabin.

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Airbus A319 Was One Of The First To Be Retrofitted

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The initial A319 aircraft was pretty unique, as it remains as one of American airlines domestic short-haul fleet that includes seatback screens. As previously reported, these screens will eventually be removed, and the first class cabin expanded. As a replacement for removing the screens, passengers instead will be able to access entertainment via the American Airlines app on their personal device.

With this change, American Airlines will be a stark contrast to its competitors, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, which have proactively added more seatback entertainment and screens. American Airlines has around 32 A319s, which are classed as legacy airframes, given that the remainder of this type have been inherited from US Airways and America West Airlines.

It remains unclear as to the extent of the damage that was caused to the A319 at Chicago; the cost of such damage can be very costly to airlines. Not only will it cost the airline to fix the airplane, but also the cost of delayed flights, displaced passengers, and onwards affects tot eh airlines schedule and operations, not to mention the delay of occupying the gate at ORD longer than first expected.