The incident occurred at around 6am when the driver stepped out of the van and neglected to put the vehicle in park. When the it began to roll away, he allegedly attempted to regain entry in an effort to intercept its course towards a JetBlue Embraer E190 that was about push back from the gate for Flight 891 to Tampa, however he took a tumble and was unable to prevent the collision. Consequently, “The van struck the wing of the JetBlue aircraft, causing damage to the aircraft and the van,” according to a statement by the Massachusetts State Police.
No passengers were hurt but the impact was noticeable, according to traveller Chaz Hallock. “It sort of rocked to one side,” was Hallock’s description of the moment the van made contact with the aircraft. “I looked out the window and I saw a white van sort of driving aimlessly and some people chasing after it. There was one person on the ground and it was heading to another plane.
“It was all very surreal,” he went on to say. “But nobody on the plane was too spooked about it.”
In fact, the runaway van may have gone on to strike other aircraft had ground crew not acted quickly, eyewitnesses said. “The baggage crew working the flight worked fast to stop the truck from rolling further and causing any more damage,” said David Siles, another Flight 891 passenger.
JetBlue spokesman, Philip Stewart, confirmed the incident, saying: “Shortly before 6 am a ground operations vehicle came into contact with the aircraft operating JetBlue flight #891 at Logan International Airport while it was parked at the gate.
“The aircraft is being inspected for damage, and customers on the flight from Boston to Tampa were accommodated on a different aircraft."
A minor delay ensued as a consequence of the mishap, with flight 891 departing on the new aircraft around 7.15am, approximately 75 minutes behind schedule, according to JetBlue’s website. Boston's Logan International airport also confirmed the incident, saying via Twitter that "the cause of the incident remains under investigation."
