Jetstar Australia had to cancel some flights yesterday (22 January 2024) after one of their A320s and a ute collided at Sydney Airport. Ute is short for Utility vehicle and is most similar to a Pickup Truck.
The A320, registration VH-VGJ, was being towed to gate 4 when the two collided at 0530 local time. The Ute was being driven by a Certis Security contractor. The empty plane was set to be the 0640 JQ760 flight from Sydney to Adelaide. The driver’s side of the ute hit and became wedged under the number 2 engine. The security contractor was taken to the Prince of Wales Hospital at Randwick to be checked over.
The collision resulted in six flights being cancelled including flights to Adelaide, Melbourne and the Gold Coast. Three other Jetstar planes were stuck behind the incident aircraft. Jetstar told local media “A Sydney Airport utility vehicle made contact with one of our aircraft, which was being towed to the gate without passengers. We’re working with Sydney Airport to fully investigate what happened.”
Sydney Airport said, “There were no injuries and the aircraft is currently undergoing precautionary engineering checks.”
Certis told 9 News yesterday, “Certis is working with Sydney Airport to investigate an incident that occurred early this morning at the airport involving one of its employees. A vehicle operated by a staff member made contact with a Jetstar aircraft whilst the aircraft was being towed. While no significant injuries occurred as a result of the incident, the affected team member was taken to hospital for observation. The health, safety and well-being of travellers, our team members and fellow workers at Sydney Airport will continue to be our highest priority, even as we look into preventing similar incidents from occurring.”