An employee at Chicago O'Hare International Airport was seriously injured on Saturday after a vehicle draws planes and a plane collided, causing the vehicle to turn around, said officials.
The collision took place around 7:35 pm local time, when an Air Wisconsin -Jet approached a gate hit the vehicle, which is also known as a tugboat, said the Federal Aviation Administration.
“The tugboat turned around and recorded the driver underneath,” said Chicago police.
The tugboat was powered by a 64-year-old man who sustained injury in the head and lower body, the police said on Sunday. He was taken in a critical condition to advocate the Lutheran General Hospital where he was stabilized, the police said.
The man operated the tugboat for United Airlines, according to the airline.
“We ensure that he receives necessary support and care,” the airline said in a statement.
Air Wisconsin is a regional airline that is active under American Eagle in the Midwest and the east coast for American Airlines, the parent company.
American Airlines said in a statement on Sunday that after the plane landed, passengers left safely and were taken to a terminal.
According to American Airlines, the plane, a Bombardier CRJ-200 that can transport up to 50 passengers, had arrived in Chicago from Chicago from Kalamazoo-Battle Creek International Airport in Michigan. No passengers were injured in the plane.
The Chicago Department of Aviation, which runs the airport, said on Sunday that there were no significant consequences for operations in O'Hare because of the collision. The FAA and the Chicago police said they were investigating.
The episode took place a day after a medical plane crashed near a shopping center in the northeast of Philadelphia, where all six people on board and one person were killed on the spot, the authorities said.
