Two private planes clip wings at Hobby Airport in Houston, prompting ground stop

A Texas airport has been closed after two private jets had their wings clipped while moving through the airfield – with the FAA now revealing that one of the planes took off without permission.

The incident occurred at Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport around 4 p.m. on Tuesday and prompted an immediate halt to the flight, which is still ongoing about three hours later.

Citing debris at the airport, authorities said the airport will remain closed “until further notice” — with federal flight officials later revealing preliminary circumstances surrounding the crash around 6:15 p.m.

The agency said it happened when a twin-engine Hawker H25B with the tail number N269AA took off from one of the port’s runways without permission, causing it to collide with a twin-engine Cessna C510 that was landing on an adjacent tarmac.

No injuries have been reportedthe agency said, and the occupants of both vessels remain unidentified as of 6:35 p.m.

Footage from the scene, filmed about an hour after the crash, shows the wings of one of the jets visibly flexed as flight officials surveyed the area.

Delays are expected to last for the next 45 minutes to an hour, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The incident is currently under investigation.

A statement on the airport’s social media revealed how the accident occurred.

“Two private jets clipped their wings while flying over the airport around 3:30 p.m.,” airport officials wrote. ‘No one was hurt.’

It was issued about 40 minutes after the crash and added that both planes have since been declared fire safe by the Houston Fire Department, who were filmed at the scene along with flight officials.

“Due to the debris caused by the accident, the airport is closed until further notice,” the statement said.

“Houston Airports is working to safely remove the debris to restore operations as quickly as possible.”

A few hours later, the FAA explained: “A twin-engine Hawker H25B took off from runway 22 @HobbyAirport today at 4:00 PM without permission when it collided with a twin-engine Cessna C510 landing on runway 13 right.

‘No one was hurt. This information is preliminary and subject to change.”

In subsequent statements, flight officials revealed that one of the jets had arrived at the airport when the collision occurred, while the other was taking off.

The airport is currently on a full ground stop while the FAA conducts necessary checks, which was shared live by KHO 11.

ABC-13 was also on site, with both news helicopters deploying news helicopters to document the work of flight officials on the tarmac.

As flight officials worked, footage showed several other private planes parked just a few hundred yards from the crash site.

Both helicopters caught glimpses of the debris left at the airport, most of which appeared to have been cleared about an hour after the incident.

Photojournalists aboard Air 11 captured one of the plane’s clipped wings still on the runway.

The helicopters were also able to film both aircraft involved in the crash, whose flight numbers were N510HM and N269AA.

The N510HM appeared to be missing part of its tailplane, while the N269AA appeared to have sustained damage to its left wing.

As of 5:20 p.m. local time, nearly two hours after the crash, all runways at the airport, Texas’ oldest, remained closed.

At the time, airport officials said 11 flights had been diverted and American Airlines had canceled four flights.

It is still unclear how many people were on board the planes. The airport has not yet released an update. DailyMail.com has contacted the FAA for comment.

The incident comes the week that a FedEx cargo plane crashed at a Tennessee airport – after a landing gear failure that nearly stole the lives of all three on board.

Additionally, it comes two months after the FAA released a report revealing dozens of near misses between aircraft in the US this summer – a report that also highlighted the anomalous number of incidents that have occurred this year.

There were 46 close calls in July, reports shared by the aviation authority showed, leading many airline employees at the time to fear it was only a matter of time before a devastating incident occurred in the US.

Recent examples include several cases of planes nearly colliding with each other while taking off or landing at major U.S. airports. Others include a near-miss in mid-air between two planes traveling at more than 500 miles per hour.

More recently, major airlines including American Airlines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines have removed planes from their fleets while investigations into the potentially catastrophic errors are ongoing.

Industry workers blame a shortage of air traffic controllers, forcing many in the profession to work mandatory overtime.

The demands of the job have left some burned out and even turning to alcohol and sleeping pills to relieve stress.

A safety report submitted last year stated: ‘Controllers are making mistakes left and right. Fatigue is extreme.

The safety margin has increased tenfold. Morale is at an all-time low. I find myself taking risks and shortcuts that I would normally never take.’

“It’s only a matter of time before something catastrophic happens,” the controller said.