Things That Go Bump On The Ramp...

And now, the latest evidence to show it's safer to be in the air, than on the ramp of a major airport. A United Airlines 757 and a Skywest CRJ-700 each suffered empennage damage Sunday night when the aircraft collided as both were being pushed back from Terminal 3 at San Francisco International Airport.

No one was injured in the slow-moving collision, reports The San Francisco Chronicle. The 757, which was being towed to maintenance, was nearly empty; the Skywest plane had 54 passengers onboard, on their way to Boise, ID.

FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said such incidents are "rare," though United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski noted the airline had a similar collision between two of its planes at O'Hare last year.

Neither plane was traveling more than two miles-per-hour when the 757's horizontal stabilizer bifurcated the smaller jet's vertical stab.

The passengers on the Skywest plane were put up at local hotels overnight, before continuing on their way the next morning.

Gregor said the accident was an "unusual and obviously unfortunate incident," but stressed "there doesn’t appear to be any underlying safety issue here."

IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 508UA        Make/Model: B757      Description: B-757
  Date: 01/14/2008     Time: 0335

  Event Type: Accident   Highest Injury: None     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Substantial

LOCATION
  City: SAN FRANCISCO   State: CA   Country: US

DESCRIPTION
  N508UA, A UNITED AIRLINES BOEING 757 AIRCRAFT, WHILE BEING TOWED FROM THE
  GATE AND NOT INTENDED FOR FLIGHT, TAIL STRUCK ANOTHER AIRCRAFT, N705SK, A
  SKYWEST  BOMBARDIER CL-600 AIRCRAFT, AT ITS TAIL DURING PUSHBACK, BOTH
  AIRCRAFT SUSTAINED SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE, NO INJURIES REPORTED, SAN FRANCISCO,
  CA

INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   0
                 # Crew:   0     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Pass:   0     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Grnd:         Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   

WEATHER: 0256Z 12004K7 10SM  FEW150 11/07 A3026

OTHER DATA
  Activity: Business      Phase: Other      Operation: Air Carrier

  FAA FSDO: OAKLAND, CA  (WP27)                   Entry date: 01/15/2008

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.flysfo.com