Four people were hospitalized after an American Airlines shuttle bus collided with one of the carrier’s Airbus A321 jets that was under tow during a late-night incident at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday.
According to initial reports from the local fire department, two passengers on the bus were taken to the hospital, along with the bus driver and the airline worker who was driving the tug. Both drivers were said to be in a ‘moderate’ condition and the passengers were in a ‘fair condition’.
There were no passengers onboard the aircraft at the time of the accident but there was a sole airline worker onboard who received light injuries. The worker was treated at the scene but declined to go to the hospital.
The accident happened at around 10:15 pm while the aircraft was being towed on a taxiway. In some situations, vehicular traffic and aircraft share taxiways, although aircraft should always take priority.
The cause of the crash has not yet been determined but in a statement, an LAX spokesperson commented:
“The aircraft that was being towed from a gate to a remote parking location made physical contact with a bus traveling on the south side of the LAX airfield.”
“Members of the Los Angeles Fire Department responded and treated about five people at the scene (a tug driver plus bus passengers). There is no major operational disruption at LAX.”
Images taken at the scene showed extensive damage to the windshield of the passenger bus.
