A worker at Chicago O’Hare International Airport was critically injured on Saturday after a vehicle that tows aircraft and a plane collided, causing the vehicle to flip over, officials said.
The collision took place about 7:35 p.m. local time, when an Air Wisconsin jet that was approaching a gate struck the vehicle, which is also known as a tug, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
“The tug flipped over, pinning the driver underneath it,” the Chicago Police Department said.
The tug was driven by a 64-year-old man who sustained head and lower-body injuries, the police said on Sunday. He was taken in critical condition to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, where he was stabilized, the police said.
The man was operating the tug for United Airlines, according to the airline.
“We are ensuring he receives any necessary support and care,” the airline said in a statement.
Air Wisconsin is a regional airline that operates under American Eagle in the Midwest and the East Coast for American Airlines, its parent company.
American Airlines said in a statement on Sunday that after the plane landed, passengers safely exited and were taken to a terminal.
The plane, a Bombardier CRJ-200 that can carry up to 50 passengers, had arrived in Chicago from Kalamazoo-Battle Creek International Airport in Michigan, according to American Airlines. No passengers were injured on the plane.
The Chicago Department of Aviation, which runs the airport, said on Sunday there were no significant impacts on operations at O’Hare because of the collision. The F.A.A. and the Chicago Police Department said they were investigating.
The episode took place a day after a medical plane crashed near a shopping center in Northeast Philadelphia, killing all six people on board and one person on the ground, the authorities said.
