18 passengers injured at Dulles Airport when transport vehicle slams into dock
At least 18 passengers were injured when a transport vehicle crashed into a pier at a Washington, D.C.-area airport on Monday.
Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority Confirmed to WTOP It was stated that the mobile lounge (or ‘people mover’) used to board and disembark international passengers from the plane hit Concourse D at Dulles International Airport at an ‘angle’ while approaching the building at around 16.30.
The passengers then got off the transport vehicle using the stairs and were evacuated by the airport’s medical staff.
Authorities announced that 18 people were transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries following the incident.
It is not yet known how the accident occurred or whether there was any structural damage to airport property.
But officials say the airport remains open and operating.
It is equipped with 19 mobile halls built in the 1960s, according to its website.
Each is 54 feet long and 16 feet wide and can carry up to 102 passengers, although there were only 50 people on board at the time. According to the Washington Examiner.
Inside Concourse D at Dulles International Airport after a people mover crashed Monday night
Authorities said that 18 people were injured in the collision that occurred around 16.30.
The airport is equipped with 19 mobile lounges built in the 1960s.
They are used to transport passengers throughout the airport and bring some international passengers directly to customs and immigration.
The crash occurred just days after Trent Morse, a former White House staffer, denounced mobile lounges during his Senate confirmation hearing for his nomination to the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority board of directors.
He called them ‘relics of the past’ According to The New York Times.
‘It’s a shame that international travelers are being transported back to the 60s when visiting the capital of the world’s most powerful nation,’ he said.
The vehicles are no longer in production, and replacements for mobile lounges cost approximately $8 million per part. According to Wing View.
Those transporting people also came under scrutiny in 2017. Investigation conducted by NBC4 Washington It found they had been involved in at least 16 collisions or accidents since 2017; one of them caused a fatal accident and the others caused injuries.
This is breaking news and will be updated.
