AN Aer Lingus plane has struck a concrete pillar at San Francisco International Airport.
Flight 147, which arrived from Dublin at 3pm local time (11pm GMT) yesterday, was being towed to its arrival gate when the accident occurred.
The Airbus A330 sustained damage to its right wingtip and a scheduled return flight to Dublin Airport was cancelled.
Nobody was injured, but a number of passengers were left shaken by the incident.
One passenger tweeted: "Everyone is okay but we were so close to leaving the plane! Can't wait to get off".
You’re good, you’re good, you’re go-#SFO pic.twitter.com/tU40P6RLvF
— Rami Dahud (@Ivan_DrawGo) May 23, 2018
Another said: "There was a couple of loud screams. It was a bang, a good bang. Everyone was shouting, 'can we get off can we get off?'".
An airport spokesman confirmed to local media that a tractor operator had misjudged the distance between the plane and the terminal.
Passengers were forced to wait on the plane for close to an hour before ground staff assessed the situation and allowed them to deboard.
In a statement, an Aer Lingus spokeswoman said: "Aer Lingus can confirm that while EI147, arriving in San Francisco airport from Dublin, was being towed to its stand by the ground handling agent, the winglet of the aircraft touched the airport terminal building.
"Some minor damage was caused to the winglet. None of the guests or crew aboard the aircraft were injured.
"Regrettably, Aer Lingus has cancelled EI146 from San Francisco to Dublin today, while a full investigation into the incident is underway. Guests will be accommodated on an alternative flight, details of which to follow.
"Aer Lingus apologises for the inconvenience caused to impacted guests."
