The Dallas-Fort Worth area dealt with some major storms overnight. The storms were so bad that a parked Boeing 737 even started moving…
In this post:
American Boeing 737 blown around in wind
Video footage has emerged of an American Airlines Boeing 737-800 being blown around shortly before 2AM this morning, while parked at a gate at Dallas Fort Worth Airport (DFW).
In the video circulating widely online, which seems to be taking from security camera footage, you can see the parked jet connected to a jet bridge with its door open (though it’s my understanding that the plane wasn’t occupied at the time of the incident). The plane then starts to move due to wind gusts — it turns sharply to the right, and in the end comes to a stop at a nearly 90 degree angle to its initial position.
According to the National Weather Service, winds at the airport maxed out at just under 80 miles per hour (or around 130 kilometers per hour), so those are pretty significant gusts.
Can incidents like this be prevented?
There’s no need for an investigation into what happened, because some patriots have already figured it out. Obviously this incident happened due to DEI at Boeing. D’oh.
In all honesty, there are a few interesting aspects to this video. For one, it’s noteworthy how much loose ground equipment there is at the airport. Were winds that strong just not anticipated, or does DFW just not have a procedure for this kind of stuff, in the event of a storm?
While beyond my area of expertise, it’s my understanding that most airlines are supposed to have a plan for high wind situations, as we see here. At least at some airlines, that includes triple chocking the gear, to maximize the odds of the jet staying in place. Best I can tell in the video, it looks like there were no chocks on the wheels. I’m not sure if the chocks flew away, or what exactly happened there.
It’s also my understanding that fueling the aircraft can help to stabilize it in this situation, to give it more weight. However, that can also be hard to plan for at a major hub.
The silver lining here is that best I can tell, the aircraft didn’t sustain any damage, and the wing didn’t quite hit the jet bridge. Had that happened, this would have been a much more significant issue.
Bottom line
An American Boeing 737 went on a bit of an adventure at DFW early this morning, as the jet started spinning due to strong winds. This happens every so often, and it’s always quite a visaul to see a jet of this size moving due to wind.
What do you make of this American 737 incident at DFW?
David Seymour is American’s Chief Operating Officer. He leads all of American’s operations including airport operations, flight operations, technical operations, inflight, safety and the Integrated Operations Center, where the airline’s daily operations are managed.
David’s aviation career began at the airline in 1999. Throughout his career he has held a variety of leadership roles in materials and planning, operations control and planning, crew resources and scheduling, technical operations and flight operations. Most recently, David served...
David Seymour is American’s Chief Operating Officer. He leads all of American’s operations including airport operations, flight operations, technical operations, inflight, safety and the Integrated Operations Center, where the airline’s daily operations are managed.
David’s aviation career began at the airline in 1999. Throughout his career he has held a variety of leadership roles in materials and planning, operations control and planning, crew resources and scheduling, technical operations and flight operations. Most recently, David served as Senior Vice President of Operations. He was named Chief Operating Officer in 2020.
After college, David served as an airborne infantry officer in the U.S. Army. He later held numerous management positions in purchasing, inventory management, warehouse distribution, logistics and finance. David is an executive sponsor for American’s Veteran & Military Employee Business Resource Group, an employee-led organization that supports veterans, current military service members and their families.
David holds a Master of Management in marketing and transportation from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and a Bachelor of Science in mathematical science of operations research from the U.S. Military Academy.
He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1986 and completed the Infantry Officer Basic Course. In 1987, after graduation from U.S. Army Ranger School, he was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division where he served as a platoon leader and company executive officer. In 1989, he reassigned to the 18th Airborne Corps where he served as the aide-de-camp for the corps chief of staff and later for the deputy commanding general. He completed his active service in 1991 as the operations officer for the U.S. Army Parachute Team "Golden Knights."
It's Dave Seymour's fault.
It's the airport issue, not the airplane maker. If they were to add wheel chock peg holes in the tarmac they could avoid this issue. It's a rather easy fix and I have no idea whey they don't already exist.
Every general aviation pilot knows that his or her airplane has to be tied town, whenever the plane is left overnight, or even for a few hours. The same protocol should apply to larger commercial and military aircraft, one would hope. I'm sure the military does not leave its aircraft sitting on the tarmac without being tied down securely.
Airline operations should be watching weather patterns like a hawk…aircraft should be double chocked with tug connected (if possible).
In high winds, policy at my airline is to chock all the tires and leave a tug connected.
If it is beyond your expertise then do not further talk about it and just state the facts. No need to make the article longer than needed.
Perhaps a better and more realistic blame would be Climate Change. But, of course, DEI is so easy a target. Shaking my head in disbelief that we are even having this conversation. Jokingly or not.
DEI is an easy target for people with an agenda.
Looks like the wheels were turned sideways. Wonder if it would have spun if the wheels had been straight?
The wheels were not initially sideways. They turned after the plane started rotating. You have 77mph winds hitting the vertical stabilizer near dead on, which then acts as a big lever to rotate the aircraft. Nothing heavy is attached to the aircraft at the nose to counter the force on the tail, so it rotates. This should not be surprising in the slightest, but IMO it seems everybody underestimates how powerful high winds are unless they're pilots or sailors.
"In the video circulating widely online, which seems to be taking from security camera footage, you can see the parked jet..." I think you mean taken.
What the heck does DEI have to do with this? You may think you're too cool but you are probably just some redneck racist.
Dear Bailey. Several people who write blame anything bad airline related on DEI. Of course Ben doesn’t think that. You can tell he was sarcastic. I think you just do not understand humor/sarcasm. Have a nice day.
I think maybe he was referring to the tweeter, not Ben.
It's a little disturbing seeing a Twitter post where some racist idiot blames "DEI" (code for "non-white, non-male people"). Though I know you don't believe it, Ben, many of your readers take that view. I foolishly clicked through to the post and see several posts in agreement. I see more comments of this type in OMAAT every so often and wonder what company I'm keeping in the miles-and-points club. Maybe I need to quit.
Please take care reposting videos with gratuitous politically inflammatory comments and please take them down as soon as they are brought to your attention. Thank you
You are an idiot. Have a nice day.
Are all of these comments using the word "fault" supposed to be funny/clever/witty? I guess I missed that class which taught smarm.
Since this is a blog about air travel, and this specific report concerned an plane at a gate twisting due to the terrific storms experienced in that neighborhood (and commercial airports to the best of my knowledge don't use tie-downs), can someone explain why such comments are posted?
Bad weather, especially wind, need to chalk those mains, prevents the plane from pivoting. The nosewheel will canter and you can see it turn right after it slid the block. Much harder to do if the mains cannot move, not impossible, just much harder.
I imagine chocks would have been more effective than chalk, however much it improves a climber's grip! ;)
What? I thought everything was Trump's fault.
It's DEI's fault.
It's Tim Dunn's fault.
It's Joe Biden's fault.
It's whatever's fault.
I'm surprised that no one here so far have blamed Boeing.
Not so fast. Take a look at the bottom.
"It's DEI's fault.
It's Tim Dunn's fault.
It's Joe Biden's fault."
Did you even READ the comments?
How would I have known that if I didn't read them. I don't spending too much time on what dumb people yap, so maybe you and they weren't telling what you/they wanted to tell straightforward.
*don't like
At least we're not blaming everything including this powerful storm on global warming anymore.
Humans are as dumbest ever.
Absolutely, some humans are.
Small correction - the incident occurred shortly before 6 am CDT (I know, it hit my neighborhood about the same time, waking me up and scaring the begeezus out of the cat in the process), not 2 am.
As for why there was loose equipment, the storm was moving at a forward speed of 45-50 knots, and only started producing significant (>65 kts) gusts in central Denton County, about 20 miles northwest of the airport. Possible there wasn't sufficient time to prepare.
Sunrise in Dallas was 6:10 am. Looks very dark in the clip to me…..
If you've never been through a severe thunderstorm like that, it will make it incredibly dark, even in the middle of the day. But in any event, don't take my word for it. Take a look at the weather obs for KDFW and you'll see the offending wind gust occurred at the 05:53 CDT observation.
Bad weather was forecast. They screwed up.
It’s Tim Dunn’s fault.
I know that I am a Delta fan, but even I do not have the energy to rotate a plane like that.
I was at DFW for about 8 hoots yesterday trying to get out through some creative routing. I finally got out, but that storm was no joke and that plane does not surprise me. It was pretty rough down there.
It's DEI's fault.
I live less than 20 miles from DFW. I'm a retired contractor/engineer that has gone through super typhoons in the Pacific. I've seen a lot of wind damage. Short of cable (not ropes) tying the aircraft to a hooks embedded in the tarmac (concrete), anything last night could have moved including flipping over.
It’s Boeings fault.