Aviation

Two planes carrying 351 crash into each other while taxiing at Los Angeles Airport

Two planes carrying 351 passengers crashed into each other at Los Angeles Airport which left a large chunk of the aircraft on the ground.
It happened when a United Airlines flight – which had just landed from New Jersey at Gate 73 at Terminal 7 – came into contact with an Alaska Airlines jet, which was departing from Gate 66.
Passengers aboard said they felt a ‘huge jolt’ and then saw part of the plane had snapped off.
No one was injured in the incident which happened around 7.45pm last night.
Diana Westmyer, a passenger on board the United flight, said she felt a huge jolt before the pilot asked passengers over the intercom to remain in their seats with their seat belts on.
She told CBS: ‘And then they came back and said we can’t move yet because they’re connected. They said they wanted everyone to sit back down because they were either going to pull us away from the other plane or pull the other plane away from us.’

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She added how she could see a big piece of the plane on the ground which ‘had clearly broken off.’
Actor Peter Cambor tweeted: ‘So…the United plane I’m on was pulling into the gate at LAX and…another plane just RAN INTO US! Planes are stuck together.’
United Airlines said its plane had been ‘taxiing to the gate at a low speed’. The 169 passengers on board disembarked as normal as engineers inspected the aircraft.
In a statement Alaska Airlines reported its plane ‘was being pushed back from the gate about 7:45pm and its wing tip clipped another aircraft’.
The 182 passengers aboard the plane managed to continue their journey to Portland, Oregon, on a different aircraft around two hours later.
LAX Public Relations Director Nancy Castles said an investigation will determine the damage to the aircraft and who was at fault in the collision.

Report : daily mail

Aviation

COMAC Unveils Plans for the C929 to Rival Airbus and Boeing

After the success of China’s first C919 aircraft, the country is setting its sights on developing a larger plane. COMAC (Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China) has officially confirmed plans to build a widebody aircraft, marking a significant step in its aircraft lineup.

Traditionally, Airbus and Boeing dominate the widebody aircraft market, with decades of expertise in developing planes and engines capable of carrying heavy payloads. China, which currently relies on imported engines, is now aiming to challenge these giants with its own widebody jet, the C929, designed to compete with the Airbus A350 and Boeing 777.

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The C929 will be China’s first independently developed long-range widebody aircraft. It adheres to international airworthiness standards and boasts independent intellectual property rights. The baseline version is designed to seat 280 passengers and offers a range of 12,000 kilometers, catering to global demand for both regional and international air travel.

Russia, which also needs reliable narrowbody and widebody aircraft, could become a key customer for the C929. Additionally, China plans to target the broader Asian market as it continues to expand its aviation capabilities.

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China’s aviation progress includes the ARJ21 (now called C909), a regional jet with 100 seats for shorter routes, and the C919, a narrowbody jet with 180 seats designed to rival the Boeing 737 MAX and Airbus A320. Both models have found increasing demand in the domestic market.

At China’s largest air show in Zhuhai, COMAC announced that Air China will be the launch customer for the C929 widebody jet, though details about order size and delivery timelines were not disclosed.

Other major deals announced by COMAC include:

Hainan Airlines: Firm orders for 60 C919 and 40 C909 regional jets.
Colorful Guizhou Airlines: 30 C909 jets, with 20 firm orders and 10 provisional agreements.

The C929, renamed from the CR929 after Russia withdrew from the joint development project in 2023, is expected to carry 280–400 passengers with a range of 12,000 kilometers, competing directly with Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner.

According to COMAC’s deputy general manager, Tong Yu, the first fuselage section of the C929 is expected by September 2027, with prototype test flights anticipated soon after.