Former President Donald Trump’s Boeing jet wing struck a parked plane at a Florida airport after landing safely and taxiing early Sunday morning. The Federal Aviation Administration reported that it is unclear whether Trump was on the Boeing 757 at the time of the incident, which occurred at West Palm Beach International Airport. The collision involved Trump’s aircraft winglet hitting the rear elevator of a parked VistaJet. Fortunately, no injuries were reported, and the FAA is investigating the incident further.
A winglet is a short fin projecting upward from an aircraft wing used to reduce aerodynamic drag. Trump owns a residence at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach and had been at a campaign rally in New Jersey prior to the incident. CNBC has reached out for comment from his presidential campaign about the collision. Trump, who is currently facing criminal hush money charges in a New York state court, has pleaded not guilty. His former personal attorney and fixer Michael Cohen has testified in the case regarding a payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels in late 2016. The payment was allegedly made to buy her silence about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier.
Cohen testified that he made the payment at Trump’s direction to protect his presidential campaign. Trump has denied any involvement in the payoff and has denied having had a sexual encounter with Daniels. He has claimed that the charges against him are politically motivated to harm his electoral chances. In the trial, Trump’s defense lawyer began cross-examining Cohen to challenge the witness’s credibility. The incident at the Florida airport involving Trump’s aircraft has raised questions about the safety protocols and oversight in the aviation industry. The FAA is expected to provide further updates on the investigation into the collision between Trump’s Boeing jet and the parked plane.
