Video: Delta 747 crashes into tow tractor at New York JFK airport

Liveleak has a video of a Delta Airlines Boeing 747-400 (inherited from Northwest) crashing and pushing a tow tractor at New York’s John F. Kennedy airport instead of the other way around.

The jarring incident (pun intended) seems to have occurred on August 14th. The video appears to be from a surveillance camera.

As the plane pulls up to its stand, the tractor and some ground personnel approach the aircraft with an apparent intent to hook the plane up and tow it in. Due to cramped spaces in many US airports, planes cannot enter the stand with their engines running and must be towed in.

One of the staff moves to the front of the aircraft and has his hands raised and crossed which indicates ‘stop’ to a pilot. He then lowers his arms and moves forward. Now whether this is the reason for the confusion is not known, but the plane starts moving forward, and crashes in to the tractor, pushing it forward while the ground personnel scatter.



Thank god this did not happen in India. We would have never heard the end of this incident with the scaremongering media brigade.

Hat tip to Flightglobal for the lead.

About Devesh Agarwal

A electronics and automotive product management, marketing and branding expert, he was awarded a silver medal at the Lockheed Martin innovation competition 2010. He is ranked 6th on Mashable's list of aviation pros on Twitter and in addition to Bangalore Aviation, he has contributed to leading publications like Aviation Week, Conde Nast Traveller India, The Economic Times, and The Mint (a Wall Street Journal content partner). He remains a frequent flier and shares the good, the bad, and the ugly about the Indian aviation industry without fear or favour.

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