Plane Started Taxiing, Then: 'You Just Heard a Screech'

2 injured after small passenger aircraft slams into shuttle bus at Chicago's O'Hare
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 7, 2023 8:30 AM CDT
2 Hurt After Plane Slams Into Shuttle Bus at O'Hare
Stock photo.   (Getty Images/Kyryl Gorlov)

A small passenger plane from Chicago to Ohio never got off the ground Friday evening after a shuttle bus slammed into it at O'Hare International Airport. Federal Aviation Administration officials say the bus hit an Air Wisconsin Bombardier CRJ-200 aircraft holding around 50 people, sending two bus passengers to the hospital, per NBC Chicago. The Chicago Fire Department says the crash took place around 7pm local time.

Authorities say the two hospitalized passengers are in good condition. Seven other passengers were said to have turned down medical treatment at the scene. CBS News reports that the nose of the plane was damaged, but no passengers on Flight 6209 were injured. The plane for Air Wisconsin, a regional carrier for American Airlines, was taken out of service, and passengers were eventually sent on their way to Dayton on another plane.

Passengers from the plane are now detailing the chaotic incident. "We were taxiing to take off ... and then you just heard a screech," one tells CBS. "It was about the equivalent of being the second person at a stoplight, and you think that it turns green, but it's still red, and we impacted the bus." Another passenger made a more wry observation, telling WLS, "You know, I've had quite a few flights ... and never had a crash, but I get on American Airlines and I get hit by a bus." The FAA is conducting an investigation into the crash. (More O'Hare International Airport stories.)

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