American Airlines Plane Strikes Shuttle Bus At LAX Airport, Five People Injured

Five people were injured on Friday night after an American Airlines plane struck a shuttle bus at Los Angeles International Airport in California, officials said, in what was the latest in a string of unusual incidents at major airports in the past four weeks.

The plane, an Airbus A321, had no passengers and was being towed on a taxiway around 10 p.m. local time when it hit a bus that was transporting passengers between terminals, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

Emergency medical workers treated five people who were involved in the “low-speed” collision, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.

Four people were hospitalized. The tug driver who had been towing the jet was taken to the hospital in moderate condition, and the bus driver and two bus passengers were transported in fair condition, the Fire Department said. Only one person was on the plane, a worker, who declined to be taken to the hospital after receiving treatment, the department said.

American Airlines said that the airplane was not operating as a commercial flight when the collision happened and that no customers had been onboard.

The jet was being towed from a gate to a parking area. Other airport operations remained normal, the airport said in a statement.

Given that the plane was being towed the speed was most likely very moderate, although the foce of impact when such a large object hits a bus must have been significant. I wouldn’t have liked to be on that bus during the collision.

The bus did sustain substantial damages on the front part, especially near the driver’s area:

Here is a statement by the Los Angeles Fire Department concerning the incident:

An airfield shuttle bus was involved in a low-speed collision with an aircraft being towed on the ground, resulting in 5 patients receiving LAFD EMS care and 4 being transported by LAFD ambulance to nearby hospitals. The tug driver was transported in moderate condition, the bus driver and two passengers were transported in fair condition, and the sole person aboard the plane (worker) was treated, but declined transport. No further information.

And some comments from LAX Airport via Twitter:

A jet being towed tonight from a gate to a parking area made contact with a shuttle bus, resulting in injuries to about 5 people. We thank our partners @LAFD for quickly responding and treating passengers from the bus. Other LAX operations remain normal.

— LAX Airport (@flyLAXairport) February 11, 2023

There are quite a few unusual incidents recently that are happening at U.S. airports including near collisions that would have been far more dangerous, definitely fatal, than a low-speed collision of an empty plane and a passenger bus.

LAX still has a lot of construction going on. Hard to say if that had anything to do with it or if one of the drivers of either the tow truck or the bus simply wasn’t fully aware of the situation and caused the collision. There will be an investigation to figure that out.

Considering there were personal injuries involved there is most likely going to be some form of legal action following as well.

 Conclusion

An American Airlines plane without passengers and a shuttle bus transporting people on the ground have collided on a Los Angeles LAX taxiway. The accident resulted in five injuries, out of which four had to be treated at the hospital.

Since the plane wasn’t operating as a commercial flight at the time, there was no cockpit crew onboard and the aircraft was simply being towed. Aside from the damages to the bus, it’s hard to make out from the imagery available what damages were sustained by the aircraft. Thankfully no serious injuries or worse happened as a result of this accident.