Several People Injured After Jetway Collapse At BWI Airport
ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD. (WJZ) — Several people are injured after a jet bridge collapsed on a Southwest flight Saturday night after it landed.
Passengers aboard Flight 822 from Punta Cana said a woman fell ill during the flight, and while medics were escorting her off after landing, the ramp to the gate collapsed.
"As they got her, she's walking out, we heard this incredibly loud bang, it was just deafening. And then the thing crashed and it hit down," said William Yerman, a passenger on the plane at the time.
The Yerman family watched from the windows, terrified for the staff and passenger.
BWI Inspects All Jet Bridges After Incident As Precaution
"It was very scary that it collapsed with people on it and they took a big spill onto the concrete," said Michelle Yerman, another passenger.
Emergency vehicles immediately flooded the tarmac. Fire crews raised a ladder to the side of the plane.
"There's all these fire engines and ambulances and they didn't know what was going on. So everybody got online and on Twitter and we figured out that there was some kind of jetway collapse," said Jackie Glick, a passenger.
BWI officials confirmed six people have been taken to local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries. FAA is reporting at least seven people.
Photo Credit: @Tylerfishergmu
Southwest Airlines said in a statement to WJZ:
"At 7:47pm EST, Southwest flight 822 arrived Baltimore-Washington International Airport from Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, with a request that paramedics meet the aircraft to assess an onboard medical situation that occurred inflight with one passenger. While medical personnel were assisting that passenger outside the aircraft, the airport-owned passenger loading bridge experienced a failure. Initial reports are that a few people sustained injuries and are being transported to a local hospital. The remaining Customers onboard flight 822 were deplaned using air stairs. We are working swiftly to assist all passengers and Crew,"
The jet bridge failure is currently under investigation, according to BWI officials. The jet bridge will remain closed until the investigation is complete.
Passengers who took the stairs to the tarmac are feeling lucky no one was seriously hurt.
"We're all just really hoping that these guys made it ok," William Yerman said.
The aircraft was moved from the gate, and is no longer impacting operations. There is no word on the identities of any of the victims at this time.
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