Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A321neo Sustained Damages After A Jet Bridge Collapse At San Francisco Airport

A commercial passenger aircraft has sustained considerable ground damage following the collapse of a jet bridge at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The aircraft was an Airbus A321neo belonging to Hawaiian Airlines, which had just arrived from Kahului Airport (OGG) on the island of Maui.

Photo: Minh K Tran | Shutterstock

Luckily, the jet bridge collapsed after all passengers had disembarked, and there were no reports of any injuries. However, the aircraft’s front left-hand door (door 1L) sustained considerable damage. The incident took place on May 2, and was recently highlighted on social media:

Simple Flying has reached out to Hawaiian Airlines for comment.

Hawaiian Airlines and the Airbus A321neo

The aircraft in question is registered as N216HA, which, according to data from ch-aviation, was delivered new to Hawaiian Airlines in September 2018. It is one of 18 Airbus A321neos in the carrier’s fleet, each capable of carrying up to 189 passengers in a two-class configuration – 16 in first class and 173 in economy class. The aircraft have an average age of 5.4 years old, and are regularly deployed on Hawaiian Airlines’ routes to the West Coast, the majority of which take in the region of 5–6 hours.

Photo: Airbus

Following the jet bridge collapse, N216HA’s return flight, HA41, was subsequently canceled, and at the time of writing on May 6, the aircraft remains grounded at San Francisco International Airport, awaiting repair. In the days prior to sustaining ground damage at San Francisco International Airport, data from Flightradar24 shows that N216HA had operated the following sectors:

• May 2 – San Jose (SJC) to Kahului (OGG
• May 1 – Honolulu (HNL) to San Jose (SJC)
• May 1 – Long Beach (LGB) to Honolulu (HNL)
• April 30 – Honolulu (HNL) to Long Beach (LGB)
• April 29 – Kahului (OGG) to Honolulu (HNL)

The third-busiest route from Kahului

Flight HA42 is a daily scheduled passenger service between Kahului and San Francisco operated by Hawaiian Airlines. The carrier deploys its Airbus A321neos on the route. The service departs the Hawaiian island at 10:45 and is scheduled to arrive in California just over five hours later, at 18:50.

Photo: MC MEDIASTUDIO | Shutterstock

Last year, San Francisco was the third-busiest route from Kahului, with a total of 272,000 passengers, after Honolulu (1.07 million passengers) and Los Angeles (441,000 passengers). Hawaiian Airlines goes head-to-head with both United Airlines and Alaska Airlines on the route. From Kahului Airport, Hawaiian Airlines also operates to several destinations across the West Coast, including Los Angeles (LAX), Portland (PDX), San Diego (SAN), and Seattle (SEA).

What do you make of the jet bridge collapse at San Francisco International Airport that damaged a Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A321neo? Have you had a flight delayed or canceled due to your aircraft sustaining ground damage? Share your thoughts and experiences by commenting below.