United Airlines has encountered yet another chaotic moment at LaGuardia Airport, where two of its planes nearly collided while taxiing. The Boeing 737-800s came perilously close to each other on the ground, with flight 580's landing gear scraping against the tail of flight 434, which was parked on the taxiway.
Miraculously, no one on either plane was injured in the incident, thanks in part to prompt emergency response. Aboard United flight 580, 166 passengers and eight crew members disembarked without incident, as did the 162 passengers and seven crew members of flight 434, which had been bound for Houston.
The incident occurred amidst a larger backdrop of staffing shortages at LaGuardia Airport, with nearly 80% of air traffic controllers absent due to a nationwide government shutdown. In response to this critical shortage, air traffic control officials deliberately slowed down plane traffic in the New York area, exacerbating Friday's already troubled air travel patterns.
United Airlines' CEO Scott Kirby used the incident as an opportunity to call on lawmakers to put aside partisan differences and pass a clean congressional funding mechanism – known as a continuing resolution (CR) – to reopen the government.
Miraculously, no one on either plane was injured in the incident, thanks in part to prompt emergency response. Aboard United flight 580, 166 passengers and eight crew members disembarked without incident, as did the 162 passengers and seven crew members of flight 434, which had been bound for Houston.
The incident occurred amidst a larger backdrop of staffing shortages at LaGuardia Airport, with nearly 80% of air traffic controllers absent due to a nationwide government shutdown. In response to this critical shortage, air traffic control officials deliberately slowed down plane traffic in the New York area, exacerbating Friday's already troubled air travel patterns.
United Airlines' CEO Scott Kirby used the incident as an opportunity to call on lawmakers to put aside partisan differences and pass a clean congressional funding mechanism – known as a continuing resolution (CR) – to reopen the government.
two planes almost colliding at la guardia airport? what's goin on with united airlines lately? 
they gotta get their act together, staffin' and all that jazz. i mean, 80% of air traffic controllers absent? that's just crazy talk! 
they need to figure out a way to manage this chaos or ppl are gonna get hurt 
and yeah, good on scott kirby for speakin up about the government shutdown. it's high time we got some sense in washington 
. And to make matters worse, the air traffic control officials are doing it because of a government shutdown? It's like they're trying to make everything more complicated than it needs to be 
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. And let's not forget that United Airlines' CEO is actually trying to bring people together by calling for lawmakers to pass a clean CR - now that's what I call positivity vibes 
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OMG, I'm literally shaking with relief that no one was hurt!!! 
Thankfully, emergency responders were super quick and got everyone out safely. And yeah, staffing shortages are such a problem right now... I feel so bad for the passengers and crew dealing with that stress on top of already anxious travel times 
, it's like they're playing with people's lives over here! I mean, two planes almost colliding while taxiing is just crazy 
. I get what United Airlines' CEO Scott Kirby is saying - we need a clean CR to reopen the government and stabilize this situation, but how can lawmakers be so stubborn about it? Can't they see that it's affecting everyone? 
The more I think about it, the more frustrated I get...
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. Let's hope lawmakers can find a way to make air travel safer and more reliable again 
maybe? idk, but i do know one thing - we need some serious changes in our airport safety protocols ASAP!