Two aircraft have been damaged as a result of a low-speed ground collision at Raleigh–Durham International Airport. As reported by WRAL News, an Avelo Boeing 737 was being towed from a remote stand when its right wingtip clipped the right horizontal stabilizer of a parked Southwest Boeing 737 on the morning of January 1, 2026. The incident led to both aircraft being temporarily grounded.
The two 737s were parked at remote stands overnight, and there were no occupants on either aircraft. As such, no injuries were reported. The Avelo 737 was being towed to Terminal One for an early morning departure, while the Southwest 737 did not have a flight scheduled for the day. The Avelo flight ended up being cancelled, while the incident did not have a material impact on Southwest’s operations.
A Ground Collision At Raleigh-Durham
On January 1, 2026, ground crews were tasked with moving N707VL, a Boeing 737-700 operated by Avelo Airlines. The aircraft was parked at a remote stand overnight and was set to depart for New Haven later in the morning. As it was being towed, its right winglet struck the right horizontal stabilizer of N8909L, a parked Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8.
N8909L was also in storage for the night, and it did not have any flights scheduled for the day. Neither aircraft was occupied, so there were no injuries reported. Whereas having the Southwest 737 out of service did not impact the carrier’s operations, the flight that the Avelo 737 was meant to operate, XP676, ended up being cancelled as there was no other aircraft available to operate this flight.
Passengers likely had to be compensated or rebooked onto other flights. Avelo Airlines had another scheduled departure to New Haven shortly after noon (also operated by a 737-700), but it’s unlikely that all of the affected passengers could be rebooked onto this flight unless load factors were quite low. Passengers who could not be booked onto this flight would have been entitled to compensation or be booked onto a partner airline for travel to New Haven.
The Aftermath And Repairs For The Aircraft
Both 737s remain on the ground as of the time of writing. Reportedly, both airlines are assessing the damage to determine the needed repairs. Raleigh-Durham is a maintenance base for Avelo Airlines, and the wingtip damage appears relatively minor. As such, the Avelo Airlines 737 should be repaired quickly and will likely be back in service shortly.
Southwest Airlines does not have a maintenance station at Raleigh-Durham International Airport. While engineers and technicians at outstations can perform minor repairs, damage to an aircraft’s horizontal stabilizer is a more serious issue than winglet damage. The airline could elect to ferry the aircraft to one of its maintenance bases, or it could decide to send in parts and technicians to perform the repairs on site.
From this perspective, then, it’s the Southwest Airlines 737 that was more severely impacted. It received heavier damage and will need substantial repairs, while also being parked at an outstation. For Avelo Airlines, the incident caused a flight cancellation, which is expensive and logistically complicated, but the airline is otherwise relatively unaffected since the aircraft can be repaired on site in a quick manner.
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A Recent Trend Of Ground Collisions
2025 saw several ground collision incidents. In late November, two United 737-900ERs pushing back at Houston struck their wingtips. In October, a United 737-700 struck the tail of a parked 767-300ER while taxiing in Chicago. The same month also saw two Delta Connection CRJ900s collide on the ground, injuring a flight attendant. In September, meanwhile, a United 737’s wingtip struck the tail of another 737 while pushing back at San Francisco International Airport.
Some of these (such as the incident in Chicago) can be attributed to errors made by either pilots or air traffic controllers. Others, such as the January 1 incident at Raleigh, are due to a lack of awareness and diligence on the part of ground crews. While no one was injured, the incident still damaged two Boeing 737s that will now need expensive repairs and also cancelled a flight.
