A B.C. woman was sitting inside a plane on the tarmac at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport when another aircraft collided into it.
Jackie Patton left Vancouver International Airport on a flight to Puerto Vallarta with a layover in Seattle on the morning of Feb. 5.
The North Vancouver resident was sitting in her seat on the Delta Air Lines flight 1921 in Seattle when she saw an aircraft moving nearby.
"I saw the aircraft coming up behind us from my window seat, looked like it was very close,” she said. "A few seconds later, there was a very loud noise and the plane shook. It was obvious right away something was wrong.”
At 10:07 a.m., she took out her phone to record the plane, with the logo JAL (Japan Airlines), perpendicular to the one she was on.
The right wing of Japan Airlines flight 68 struck the tail of Delta Air Lines flight 1921 while the planes were taxiing.
“I didn’t see the actual hit itself but the shaking and loud noise that came out of nowhere was scary,” she recalled.
Patton grabbed the armrest and said it was a hard shake that lasted a few seconds.
"With all of the plane incidents lately, I was a bit nervous to fly anyway and then this happens. Everyone had a shocked reaction. No one knew what had happened,” she said.
The pilot told passengers that another plane hit the tail of their plane.
Patton and the passengers were inside the aircraft at 11 a.m. and staff could be seen outside taking photographs of the plane.
I’m sitting in a plane on the other side of all the emergency vehicles. Grateful this wasn’t worse. Perturbed that it happened at all.#Seatac #Seattle #BREAKING https://t.co/OOsXZdHP6O
— Rachael (sometimes SaaSy) Anne (@swimflythrive) February 5, 2025
A spokesperson with Seattle-Tacoma International Airport said the Port of Seattle Fire Department, police and airport operations staff responded at 10:17 a.m. to the "on ramp at SEA on a taxi line between S Concourse and the south airport maintenance hangars."
"The incident involved a taxiing Japan Airlines aircraft that appears to have struck the tail of a parked Delta Air Lines aircraft,” said Kassie McKnight-Xi, adding no one was injured in the incident.
"The airport is working with both airlines to safely deplane passengers and bring them to the terminal," she said. "There is minimal impact to airport operations as this occurred on a taxi lane."
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has confirmed it is investigating the crash.
"The aircraft were in an area that is not under air traffic control," said public affairs specialist Jillian L. Angeline. "The FAA temporarily paused some flights to the airport as a result of the incident."
People who were on the aircraft are being advised to check with their airlines if they are flying Wednesday.
