At least 18 passengers have been taken to the hospital after a people mover hit a building dock at Dulles International Airport.
At around 4:30 p.m. local time Monday, a “mobile lounge” taking travelers to Concourse D crashed into the dock “at an angle as it was pulling up to the building,” the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority told The Independent.
“Passengers deboarded the mobile lounge via stairs,” authorities said. “They are being evaluated by Airports Authority Fire & Rescue personnel for possible injuries.”
Authorities said 18 people were taken to a nearby hospital with “non-life-threatening injuries.”
“The airport is open and operating as normal,” authorities said.
Dulles Airport serves the Washington, D.C., area.
The airport has 19 mobile lounges, according to its website. Each vehicle is 54 feet long and 16 feet wide.
A mobile lounge can carry up to 102 passengers. It’s unclear how many passengers were on board when the vehicle crashed Monday.
An NBC4 Washington investigation from 2017 found that mobile lounges at Dulles Airport were involved in at least 16 crashes or mishaps since 2007.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy recently announced a 10 percent flight reduction at 40 major airports across the U.S. amid the ongoing government shutdown.
Dulles Airport says on its website that unfunded security screening and air traffic control employees “could affect flight schedules or security checkpoint wait times” during the shutdown, which has become the longest in U.S. history at 40 days and counting.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority wrote on X last Friday, “We expect some flights to be canceled beginning today in compliance with the Federal Aviation Administration’s capacity reductions.
“As always, passengers with questions about their flight reservation should reach out to their airline.”
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