There’s pretty much just one rule to driving on an airport runway, and it’s “don’t hit shit.” A subset of that rule is the notion that the eighty-ton aircraft pretty much always has the right of way. Early on Monday morning an airport security staffer at Sydney International took a wrong turn in their company-issued Mitsubishi Triton pickup, running headlong into an empty Jetstar Airways Airbus getting a tow. The driver was transported to the hospital, but no major injuries were reported.
The 5:30am crash caused a cascade of delays for hundreds of passengers flying into and out of Sydney Monday morning. The plane involved in this vehicle-on-vehicle battle was scheduled to make six legs for the day, and all of those needed to be cancelled as a result, reports Sky News. Most of the passengers affected were moved to later same-day alternative flights, making this more of an inconvenience than a tragedy.
“Earlier this morning a vehicle operated by a staff member from the airport’s security contractor made contact with a Jetstar aircraft whilst the aircraft was being towed,” Sydney Airport said in a statement.
“No passengers were on board at the time.
“There were no injuries, and the aircraft is currently undergoing precautionary engineering checks.”
Remember that Australia is a right-hand drive country, and the crushed right-side A-pillar of the Mitsubishi (pictured above) seems a bit more frightening. The driver was reportedly pinned inside the truck for some time while the safety crews worked to get them out. Not only was there substantial impact damage, but it looks as though perhaps the truck was dragged along with the aircraft for some distance, as it seems to have been wedged underneath the plane’s engine, like a doorstop.