SIA aircraft bound for Singapore clips tail of jet at US airport, no injuries reported

A Singapore Airlines (SIA) aircraft clipped the tail of a Spirit Airlines jet while pulling out of the gate at Newark Liberty International Airport on Tuesday (March 3).

Flight SQ21 bound for Singapore got delayed after the incident at around 10.20am, reported ABC 7 News.

Both planes were preparing for takeoff, and the Spirit plane had been parked near the gate for de-icing, a process used to remove snow, ice, or frost from an aircraft.

Sree Sreenivasan, a passenger onboard the SIA flight, posted a video to X after the incident and said that he did not feel the impact of the strike.

This happened within the hour on @SingaporeAir flight SQ21, EWR to SIN, world’s longest flight at 19 hours, 10 min. 

During the first minute as we pulled out, our plan’s wingtip hit a @SpiritAirlines tail. Don’t know whose fault it is, but you can see the damage in this video.… pic.twitter.com/t3rN30mkoh

— Sree Sreenivasan (sreenet.substack.com) (@sree) March 3, 2026

In response to AsiaOne's queries, SIA said there were no injuries and that the aircraft returned safely to the gate.  

Passengers were subsequently deplaned and provided meals and refreshments.

SIA said that the flight was rescheduled and departed Newark at about 4.10pm the same day with a new set of pilots and cabin crew after being cleared for service.

"We sincerely apologise to our customers for any inconvenience this has caused," the airline said, adding that the safety of their customers and crew is a top priority.

The Spirit jet was also taken out of service for inspection and passengers on it were asked to deplane, reported CBS News.

According to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the incident occurred in an area where air traffic controllers do not manage aircraft.

FAA is investigating the incident.

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dana.leong@asiaone.com