Shuttle Van Crashes Into Airplane in Chicago

Image: PHOTO: Aerial view of Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. (photo via jmsilva/iStock/Getty Images Plus)
Image: PHOTO: Aerial view of Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. (photo via jmsilva/iStock/Getty Images Plus)
Rich Thomaselli
by Rich Thomaselli
Last updated: 11:55 AM ET, Sun October 8, 2023

As if airport tarmacs aren’t busy enough with catering trucks and cleaning services and emergency personnel and more – not to mention the airplanes themselves – comes this disturbing news. 

There was an accident on Friday night at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago that involved a vehicle and an airplane. 

The incident happened when a shuttle van collided with a 50-passenger American Eagle regional jet that was taxiing for takeoff to Dayton, Ohio. 

Two people were injured, according to the Chicago Fire Department. 

One passenger on the plane said there was a “jarring impact,” and that everybody was “all shook up.” 

Both of the injured passengers were on the shuttle van, although the airplane seemed to take the worst of it with a deep gash that rendered it useless. All other passengers in both the van and the airplane were ushered back into a terminal at O’Hare. 

American Airlines issued a statement late Friday night following the crash that read: "An employee bus made contact with American Eagle flight 6209 operated by Air Wisconsin Airlines while the aircraft was taxiing at Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD). Six team members onboard the bus are receiving further evaluation at a local hospital and there were no reported injuries onboard the aircraft. The aircraft has been taken out of service and customers have boarded a replacement aircraft to continue on to Dayton, OH (DAY) tonight." 

At least one passenger saw the levity in the situation by cracking that he got on a plane and was hit by a bus. 


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Rich Thomaselli

Rich Thomaselli

Associate Writer

Editor Associate Writer true 9281 14744 Rich Thomaselli has written for TravelPulse since 2014 and has been a professional journalist for nearly 40 years. His work has appeared in USA Today, the New York Times and New York Yankees publications. He is an 11-time writ

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