Passengers boarding a Southwest Airlines plane at Memphis International Airport experienced an unexpected delay on Sunday. A ground equipment vehicle struck the aircraft as reported by an airline spokesperson.
Southwest Airlines confirmed that Flight 4013 was removed from service following the incident. Fortunately, there were no injuries among passengers or crew.
“Southwest Flight 4013 was contacted by a ground equipment vehicle during boarding today at Memphis International Airport,” the airline shared.
The Memphis Shelby County Airport Authority also commented, stating the event was isolated and confirmed its occurrence.
Passengers were redirected to another aircraft to continue their journey. Southwest stated that the substitute plane would fly the route to Dallas. However, their website still listed Flight 4013 as heading towards Harry Reid International Airport near Las Vegas.
Due to the incident, the flight faced a delay of nearly four hours, pushing the expected arrival to around 5:30 p.m. instead of the initial time of 1:50 p.m.
An investigation into the incident is being conducted under the airline’s Safety Management System. Southwest emphasized that customer and employee safety remains their top priority.
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