8 hurt after jet collides with truck on service road at Los Angeles International Airport

ByABC7.com staff KABC logo
Sunday, May 21, 2017
8 injured after Aeromexico plane hits utility truck at LAX
A Boeing 737 Aeromexico jet collided with a supply truck that overturned Saturday afternoon on a service road at Los Angeles Airport, authorities said.

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A Boeing 737 Aeromexico jet collided with a supply truck that overturned Saturday afternoon on a service road at Los Angeles Airport, authorities said.

Eight people were onboard the utility truck when it was hit shortly before 2:30 p.m. on the taxiway. The right wing of the aircraft was damaged in the crash, but none of the 149 passengers and crew on board were hurt, LAX police said.

Eight people, six men and two women, suffered non-life threatening injuries, although authorities previously said one person was critically injured.

One of the employees was trapped inside and firefighters had to pull them out. The two women had more serious injuries, but none were critical.

According to a flight radar, the plane arrived at LAX from Mexico City.

A passenger onboard the Aeromexico flight captured an image of the overturned utility truck and damaged wing.
A passenger onboard the Aeromexico flight captured an image of the overturned utility truck and damaged wing.

Passenger Kole Chadwick said he was able to see what was going on outside his window after the collision.

"We just came to an abrupt stop and there was a really loud thud. We were actually seated right next to the emergency exit and we had a pretty good view of it and there was a truck tipped over on its side," he said.

Other passengers said the airline did not say what happened for at least 45 minutes.

"It wasn't a major hit to the extent of being uncomfortable. But we were all wondering, what did we hit?" Carlos Correal said.

An airport officer said it is a highly unusual incident and the airport is still trying to figure out the cause of the crash.