Adriano Espaillat says he’d prefer train after plane carrying Congress members clips wings with another

AIRLINGTON, VIRGINIA: New York congressman Adriano Espaillat says he’s thinking twice about flying out of Washington after a plane he was aboard clipped wings with another aircraft at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) on Thursday, April 10.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed that two American Airlines planes made contact on a taxiway at Reagan National Airport just before 12.45 pm on Thursday, Newsweek reported.

Adriano Espaillat says he would prefer train after 'catastrophe was avoided'

Congressman Adriano Espaillat shared on X (formerly Twitter) “This afternoon, several members of Congress, including myself and other passengers, were involved in a minor incident where our plane clipped wings with another aircraft while taxiing at Ronald Reagan National Airport.”

He went on, “Aviation mishaps are at an all-time high, and the Trump administration's reckless decision to fire FAA control staff has put us all in danger. We are thankful that no one was injured and that a catastrophe was avoided.”

“You can't make this up,” Espaillat told CNN after the incident. “Unbelievable. The FAA has to have greater staffing, I'm appalled that funding is being taken away from it, and this is the kind of results that you get when you don't have an agency ... working at its optimum capacity.”

According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the wingtip of American Airlines Flight 5490 — a Bombardier CRJ 900 headed to Charleston, South Carolina struck American Airlines Flight 4522, an Embraer E175 bound for JFK in New York. The collision happened while both aircraft were taxiing, around 12.45 pm local time.

No one was hurt in the incident, but the close call definitely shook up a few passengers including Rep Espaillat, who was among the six lawmakers on board one of the planes. He is now thinking of taking the train while travelling in future.

“I mean, I thought about going Amtrak,” he said. “I do go Amtrak when the weather is bad. So yeah, this is kind of a dangerous place right here.”

"Serving in Congress has come with some once in a lifetime experiences… like just now while stationary on the runway at DCA, another plane just bumped into our wing. Heading back to the gate, but thankfully everyone is ok," said New York Representative Nick LaLota.

Notably, Reagan National Airport was the site of a deadly mid-air collision between an airplane and a military Black Hawk helicopter in January. 

President Donald Trump later claimed that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives for air traffic controllers at the Federal Aviation Administration under the previous administration were partly to blame for the tragic collision in Washington, per ABC News.

Internet fires back after Adriano Espaillat says he might prefer trains for future travel

After Rep Adriano Espaillat hinted he might prefer trains over planes to travel while citing frustrations with air travel, the internet was quick to respond.

One user criticized his reasoning, writing, “Blaming Trump for incompetent air traffic controllers is ludicrous.”

Another added, “The control tower doesn't have anything to do with a pilot not driving around the tarmac well. You should go look yourself in the mirror and slap yourself until you can stop blaming every little thing on Trump.”

“What exactly do you think FAA does? FAA/ATC has almost nothing to do with this. At this level, pilots are responsible for separation. Next thing will be blaming Trump/FAA for your Uber being late to the airport....” one commenter noted. 

Some users took a sharper tone, with one writing, “This has nothing to do with the FAA,” while another speculated, “MAYBE it's all those DEI hires from the previous idiot administration.”

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.