2 Jetliners Collide on Ground at LAX; No Serious Injuries

Two jet airliners collided on the ground at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday night, but airport authorities said damage to both airplanes was minimal and no serious injuries were reported.

Bernard Wilson, acting chief of airport police, said the mishap occurred at about 8:40 p.m., when America West’s Phoenix-bound Flight 600, a Boeing 737 with 76 passengers and a crew of five on board, was moving at slow speed along a taxiway from the terminal to the end of a runway on the southern side of the field, preparing for takeoff.

At the same time, he said, a United Airlines Boeing 747SP with no crewmen on board was in the same area, being towed toward the company’s maintenance hangar on the western side of the airport.

Wilson said the right wing tip of the 747 apparently struck the tail assembly of the America West aircraft, doing minor damage to control surfaces and dislodging the tail cone of the 737.

Insulation and wiring could be seen dangling from the crumpled tail of the 737. The right wing tip of the 747 showed a rip several feet long.

Both aircraft were stopped in place, and about 20 passengers from the 737 exited via an emergency chute deployed from the rear entrance, while others waited for a portable stairway and walked off the damaged airliner.

Passenger Pedro Maldonado of Phoenix, said some passengers “panicked” and rushed to the rear of the plane, where they opened the emergency door and descended onto the Tarmac on an inflatable slide. Flight attendants were able to calm the remaining passengers until the portable stairway was in place, he said.

Another passenger, who asked not to be identified, describe the collision as a “jolt.”

“We didn’t know what hit us,” he said.

Crash equipment and ambulances converged on the scene, but there was no fire, no fuel was spilled and paramedics who examined passengers and crewmen said all appeared in good condition.

But Wilson said two airport employees who rushed to the scene suffered minor cuts and bruises when they were struck by falling bits of debris from the tail of the 737.

The passengers were later returned to the airport terminal by bus and transferred to America West Flight 715, which was scheduled to leave for Phoenix at about 10:40 p.m., an airline spokesman said.