While the front of the plane lifted up, the tail stayed on the ground.
Shocking images and videos have captured the moment a JetBlue plane tipped back onto its tail Sunday night at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City. Notably, the incident occurred when JetBlue Flight 662 had just landed from Barbados around 8:30 p.m. local time and passengers were in the process of disembarking, New York Post reported.
Visuals going viral on social media showed the front wheels of the plane, which had just arrived from Barbados, rising into the air. While the front of the plane lifted up, the tail stayed on the ground.
See the images here:
Images show JetBlue plane tipping backward at JFK Airport gate after “shift in weight and balance” pic.twitter.com/CaOryopewx
— Tourzy 🎫 (@tourzynet) October 23, 2023
Here’s the video:
2015 built Jetblue Airbus A321-231 aircraft (N959JB) tipped on its tail while parked at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) on 22 October. The aircraft had arrived from Bridgetown (BGI) via flight B6662.
Last flight : https://t.co/3ID8MnZaPO#aircraft#airport#aviationpic.twitter.com/PlLZLlkgK6
— FL360aero (@fl360aero) October 23, 2023
JetBlue plane at JFK last night pic.twitter.com/ePq3OtTUN3
— Wu Tang is for the Children (@WUTangKids) October 24, 2023
”It felt like the plane was about to do a backflip. Everybody kind of screamed and was grabbing for seats. Anybody who was standing was grabbing for seats,” passenger Sinead Bovell told CBS News. According to Bovell, the plane and jet bridge were damaged.
”On Sunday, October 22, JetBlue flight 662 landed as scheduled at New York’s JFK Airport from Bridgetown, Barbados. Once at the gate, due to a shift in weight and balance during deplaning, the tail of the aircraft tipped backward causing the nose of the aircraft to lift up and eventually return back down,” JetBlue spokesman Derek Dombrowski told PEOPLE in a statement
”No injuries were reported. Safety is JetBlue’s first priority; we are reviewing this incident, and the aircraft has been taken out of service for inspection,” the statement continued.
Ed Libassi, the CEO of A&P Aircraft Maintenance, Inc. explained what he thinks might have caused the plane to tilt.
”Now the situation that JetBlue had yesterday, I’ve seen it in my 51-year career — too much baggage was left in the air cargo compartment. Maybe all of the people had gotten off already, or maybe everything up front was taken off quickly — everything from baggage to fuel in the wings while they flew from Barbados,” Mr Libassi said.
