Plane rolls over after being hit by blast from jet engines
By Aaron Cooper, CNN
(CNN) — The blast from the jet engines of a Boeing 737 sent a small plane with two people inside rolling onto its roof this weekend, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
United Airlines flight 2611 was waiting to take off from John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California, headed to Chicago, when a Cessna 172 that had just landed was passing behind it.
As the commercial jet increased engine power to pull onto the runway the wind from the engines sent the smaller plane rolling, according to a report from the pilot inside.
“You said (the Cessna) flipped over? Is he doing all right down there,” the air traffic controller asked another aircraft in audio captured by ATC.com.
“They got blasted by the United 737 jet blast and then they flipped over,” the other pilot responded.
The 1,400 pound Cessna was operated by the Orange County Flight Center, which provides flight instruction and aircraft rentals.
“Train where the airlines operate,” the company’s website advertises. “Unlike remote or uncontrolled airports, John Wayne Airport offers: High-performance runway operations, Airline traffic exposure.”
Surveillance video from the flight center shows the plane tilting up on its nose and left wing before being pushed forward, eventually flipping entirely over.
Controllers sent emergency crews to check out the flipped plane but the pilot and student inside not injured.
“I initiated a left turn toward the entrance and the Boeing increased engine power and began entering Runway 02L,” the pilot said in a report. “At approximately the same time, my aircraft was struck by a sudden jet blast from the Boeing. The airflow moved the aircraft and I was unable to maintain control of its movement.
The United 737 safely landed in Chicago two minutes early. The airline declined to comment.
The FAA is investigating the incident. An initial report classifies the damage to the small aircraft as “substantial.”
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CNN’s Patrick Cornell, Sharif Paget and Sarah Dewberry contributed to this report.
