At least 18 injured after mobile lounge carrying passengers crashes at terminal gate in Washington’s Dulles airport

The dock at the airport is where the vehicle carrying passengers stops to let people into the concourse. According to authorities, the passengers who were hurt in the incident have sustained non-life threatening injuries and were transported to hospital by the fire department, AP reported.

“The airport is open and operating as normal on Monday evening,” the authorities statement added. Detailing the crash, Crystal L. Nosal, spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said passengers exited the mobile lounge using the stairs and 18 of them were taken to hospital.

According to Washington Dulles International Airport’s website, there are a total of 19 mobile lounges at the airport functioning which can transport nearly 102 passengers. The mobile lounges are about 54 feet (16.5 meters) long and 16 feet (4.9 meters) wide. The fleet of mobile lounges carries passengers between the terminal and Concourses A and D.

Air travel across the United States has been affected due to the federal government shutdown for the past 41 days and it has affected millions of passengers. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had announced up to 10% reduction in flights across 40 major airports in the US, including Dulles due to a severe shortage of air traffic controllers. The shutdown continues even after the US Senate passed the spending bill on Monday.

(with inputs from Associated Press)