Severe weather causes delays, cancellations at Northeast airports

No injuries or damage were reported after two airplanes came in contact with each other at Washington, D.C.'s Dulles International Airport Friday. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

Flight delays and cancellations are growing across the East Coast's busiest airports Friday, after showers and thunderstorms continue to pound the Northeast part of the country.

In the Washington, D.C. area, two planes clipped each other while taxing at Dulles International Airport, but the incident luckily did not affect airport operations.

Already airports in New York City and Philadelphia are experiencing the worst of the slowdown: 154 flights canceled at LaGuardia, 72 in Philadelphia and 54 at JFK.

Inbound flights to Newark are delayed an average of about three hours, according to FlightAware.com, and 35 flights have been canceled.

Flights headed to JFK are delayed at their origin by about two-and-a-half hours, flights to nearby LaGuardia have two-hour delays, and arriving flights at Philadelphia International are delayed about 50 minutes, according to FlightAware. 


Travel from the nation's capital is no better: Dulles International reported departure delays up to an hour-and-a-half. At 3:15 p.m. a Lufthansa Airbus A330 with 183 passengers en route to Frankfurt, Germany, clipped the tail of a Colgan Air turboprop flight operated by United Express and carrying 68 passengers.

Fire crews responded to the incident and no passengers were injured, but the Lufthansa plane sustained wing damage as did the Colgan aircraft's tail. Colgan Air said in a statement that the airline is investigating the incident and is working with FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.

At Reagan National departures are delayed an average of 50 minutes and 31 flights have been canceled so far.

Detroit, Atlanta and Chicago are also seeing cancellations.

Isolated thunderstorms are expected to continue in New York City most of Friday, before forecasters say a potentially severe storm is expected to hit the area, NBC 4 New York reported. The severe weather could bring damaging winds, blinding downpours and intense cloud-to-ground lightning.

Forecasters say the wet weather is expect to continue into Saturday.

NBC News' Rebecca Ruiz and Vignesh Ramachandran contributed to this report.

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Discuss this post

In the Washington, D.C. area, two planes clipped each other while taxing at Dulles International Airport, but the incident luckily did not affect airport operations.

Very appropriate that it was in DC that the planes were "taxing"! Doesn't anyone bother to proofread anything any more on this web site?

  • 4 votes
Reply#1 - Fri Aug 10, 2012 6:09 PM EDT

By the way, if corn was not mandated for use in ethanol we would have plenty of corn in circulation which then would not raise our food prices for our families. It is federally mandated that 40% of available US corn be used in our gas tanks. This is the real reason for spiking food prices, not actually the drought. Our corn crop is down by 40% right? If we did not have this green energy money maker for politicians investment managers we all could afford to buy good food for our babies.

  • 3 votes
#1.1 - Fri Aug 10, 2012 11:14 PM EDT

BinH, they dont bother to proof read because they are lazy millenials.

  • 3 votes
#1.2 - Fri Aug 10, 2012 11:15 PM EDT

The corn used for ethanol production is not the same type of corn that we eat. Nor is the corn used for cattle feed. However, both uses of corn, regardless of type, are bad uses for corn-- if you want to feed your babies feed corn, or worse, corn-fed beef, go ahead. What does this have to do with severe weather delaying flights?

  • 4 votes
#1.3 - Sat Aug 11, 2012 1:01 AM EDT

yea, but the corn being raised for the gas tanks are taking up valuable land that can be used to grow edible corn or other crops.

  • 6 votes
#1.4 - Sat Aug 11, 2012 4:06 AM EDT

Blame the corn growers and the farm lobby. Using corn for ethanol is a very inefficient way to to make fuel and it is a horrible way to feed cattle or sweeten food.

    #1.5 - Sat Aug 11, 2012 12:51 PM EDT

    I dont blame the effect. I blame the causes. The cause are green energy finatics and politicians alotting 30 billion dollars of our tax money to make things worse for our families.

    • 1 vote
    #1.6 - Sat Aug 11, 2012 1:29 PM EDT

    All these weather stories are just fuel for green energy brain dead finatics. Every one knows all the media outlets other than one of them (Fox) are liberal left wing finatics. They lie about the other half of the story to why food prices are going to spike, they only mention the drought but never ever once mention corn ethanol 40% federal mandate. Thats 40% of corn that would have been in our food supply.

    • 1 vote
    #1.7 - Sat Aug 11, 2012 1:33 PM EDT

    Fin addicts? Foxic toxicity. A pox on both.

      #1.8 - Sat Aug 11, 2012 1:44 PM EDT

      The proofreaders live in Hyderabad and have started work yet.

        #1.9 - Sat Aug 11, 2012 8:18 PM EDT
        Reply

        I once sat on a plane for 9 hours trying to get off of Dulles into Denver. The weather was terrible, then Boston Center took a direct lightning strike. The route south closed to all traffic and we just had to sit there because there were no gates open at the terminal (you ride a big vehicle to your plane). The only plane flying was a German Navy plane that got on the radio and TOLD the tower they were qualified to fly in any weather and they TOLD the tower which runway they were going to use, then went out and took off. I bet that was a fun flight. Everyone on my plane was glad we finally got out of there 9 hours late, but intact. They showed us 3 movies and fed us while we were still on the ground, so other than the time, it was not a terrible experience -- just really boring.

        • 1 vote
        Reply#2 - Fri Aug 10, 2012 6:51 PM EDT

        And yet global warming doesn't exist

          Reply#3 - Fri Aug 10, 2012 6:51 PM EDT

          And yet the tooth fairy and idiots do.

          • 3 votes
          #3.1 - Sat Aug 11, 2012 8:06 AM EDT

          Don't forget unicorns.

          • 1 vote
          #3.2 - Sat Aug 11, 2012 1:30 PM EDT

          easy now... you have to many folks in here commenting thay actually believe that

            #3.3 - Sat Aug 11, 2012 2:39 PM EDT
            Reply

            ...

              Reply#4 - Fri Aug 10, 2012 8:50 PM EDT
              ZengaFoooDeleted

              The airline industry will do all it can not to deliver customers to their destinations. By not doing so, it makes more money.

                Reply#6 - Fri Aug 10, 2012 10:08 PM EDT

                Jerry, Al Gore and Clinton associates will do what ever it takes to lie about man made global warming. By doing so makes them more money.

                In this case, this case is a killer ego shatter for Liberals. Denial is why they cant see they have been played like suckers.

                • 2 votes
                #6.1 - Fri Aug 10, 2012 11:23 PM EDT

                Gee Jerry, are you a dem.? You don't seem to understand simple economics. How can a business make money by not delivering it's goods or services? Pure genius!

                • 2 votes
                #6.2 - Sat Aug 11, 2012 6:36 AM EDT

                how can you explain the $21 billion dollar profit for the airlines, just for the excessive charges they now get

                • 1 vote
                #6.3 - Sat Aug 11, 2012 2:43 PM EDT

                Bob-434277

                Gee Jerry, are you a dem.? You don't seem to understand simple economics. How can a business make money by not delivering it's goods or services? Pure genius!

                Well, yes, Bob, I am a dem. Are you a pub? I understand economics perfectly. All corporations in one money-making scheme form a cabal, rather than being competitive (and work to make sure no one else can compete against them) so all people have to rely on them. Then they charge the most money they can to provide the worst service they can to engrandize the 1% who get rich off of it.

                Of course, we dems, who support free-market capitalism, as opposed to you pubs who support corporate communism, still have the ability to destroy the corporate communism you pubs love: we can boycott if we just stand together. We can pick one airline and decide to boycott it into oblivion and hopefuly imposerish those who own it unless it lowers its fares and provides greater services. When it has no choice but to capitulate, betraying the others in its cabal, then we go after the rest. If we free market capitalist dems stand together against you corporatist communist pubs, we can bring the 1% down and force them to give us money for a change.

                • 1 vote
                #6.4 - Sat Aug 11, 2012 7:26 PM EDT
                Reply

                @Jerry........you'd be the first one to sue the airlines if your family was on a plane that took off in inclement weather and had an accident, whether it be lightning or strong winds or some other act by Mother Nature. Air traffic controllers, pilots, stewardesses, etc, all have families and they won't jeopardize their families or anyone else's, including you and yours just to make a buck. Safety of all their passengers is what they strive for. By all means, hop on your own plane with your family and take off in a thunder and lighning storm with high winds and if you're able to, please let us know how you made out. If your not able to, I'm sure the local funeral director will thank you for your donation.

                • 1 vote
                Reply#7 - Sat Aug 11, 2012 12:30 AM EDT

                Jerry was hanging on my Christmas tree one year. Beyond dim bulb. Not even lit!

                • 1 vote
                #7.1 - Sat Aug 11, 2012 7:07 AM EDT
                Reply

                If your not able to, I'm sure the local funeral director will thank you for your donation.

                Correction: If "you're" not able to, I'm sure the local funeral director will thank you for your donation.

                • 1 vote
                Reply#8 - Sat Aug 11, 2012 12:33 AM EDT

                It's spelled taxiing, not "taxing"...unless "FOX" is writing and editing for MSNBC now.

                • 1 vote
                Reply#9 - Sat Aug 11, 2012 5:11 AM EDT

                looks like the ALLSTATE MAYHEM GUY was at that airport :P

                • 1 vote
                Reply#10 - Sat Aug 11, 2012 10:32 AM EDT
                janny joeDeleted

                If we don't get control of the corrupt Republican OIL & FINANCIAL corporate MONARCHY'S UNCONTROLLED CAPITALISTIC GREED and change over to MAGNETICALLY-DRIVEN ELECTRICAL ENERGY which is 100% NON-PLLUTANT this kind of weather will be the NORM everywhere!

                  Reply#12 - Mon Aug 13, 2012 1:09 PM EDT
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