2 airliners bump wings at Bob Hope Airport

Two Southwest Airlines jets clipped wings Saturday as one plane was being pushed back from the terminal at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, airport and airline officials said.

No one was injured and the two Boeing 737s were taken out of service for inspection. The incident occurred about 7:30 a.m. Photographs posted online showed one plane’s winglet — the vertical tip on the main wing— touching the horizontal stabilizer at the rear of the other plane.

Airport spokesman Victor Gill said the two planes had been parked at adjoining gates A-1 and A-2.

“It’s very tight quarters in there,” said John Cox, a former U.S. Airways pilot who runs Safety Operating Systems, an aviation safety firm in Washington. “You have to be careful on parking.”

Gill said the airport reported the incident to the National Transportation Safety Board.

A Southwest spokeswoman said in an email that the airline is conducting an internal review and “will work with relevant agencies, as necessary.”