No injuries after planes clip on O'Hare runway

Alex Prichodko felt the bump like the other passengers on Aer Lingus Flight 124 to Dublin, but after peering through the plane's window, he still didn't believe his eyes.

"I just looked out ... and one of our wings went right into another plane that was parked," the 18-year-old Purdue University freshman said.

The plane hadn't been going that fast, but Prichodko's concerns grew as he realized no one else seemed even to have noticed that the wing had a "missing chunk" as the plane continued to taxi for takeoff at O'Hare International Airport. He notified a flight attendant who took her own look.

"And then she kind of panicked," he said.

For the most part, though, passengers remained calm as the flight was grounded and crews converged to inspect the aircraft. The cause of the mishap remains under investigation.

Authorities confirmed Monday that about 9:45 p.m. Sunday the taxiing Aer Lingus Airbus clipped Peoria-bound SkyWest Flight 5961 as that plane moved toward its gate. No injuries were reported.

National Transportation Safety Board spokeswoman Bridget Serchak said the Aer Lingus plane's right winglet was cracked in the mishap, while the SkyWest aircraft, a CRJ700 that seats 70, suffered damage to its horizontal stabilizer.

Serchak said the damage to both planes was minor, adding the NTSB checked out the planes and released them into the Federal Aviation Authority's care. In fact, the Prichodkos were scheduled to fly to Dublin Monday night aboard the same plane. In the meantime, they stayed overnight with relatives in Mount Prospect.

United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said 51 passengers were aboard the SkyWest plane, which is operated by United Express.

Prichodko was flying to Dublin with his mother, brother and sister to visit another sister who's been studying abroad.

The plane returned to the gate before passengers evacuated, said Christine Prichodko, Alex's mother.

She was sitting 10 rows away from her son in the middle of the plane. She said the crash felt like the plane had hit a pothole, and she had no idea at the time what had happened.

An Aer Lingus spokeswoman couldn't be reached for comment Monday. Christine Prichodko said her daughter in Ireland initially had trouble getting information about the flight from Aer Lingus after the plane failed to show up.

For his part, Alex Prichodko said he'd just rather not think about what might have happened had he not noticed the wing's damage.