At least 18 people were injured Monday when a vehicle used to ferry passengers to and from their flights crashed into a dock at Washington Dulles International Airport.
A spokesperson with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority confirmed the vehicle, known as a mobile lounge, struck the Concourse D dock “at an angle as it was pulling up to the building” around 4:30 p.m.
The passengers were able to exit the mobile lounge using its stairs and were evaluated by the airport’s fire and rescue personnel. 18 people were transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The airport is open and operating as normal, the spokesperson added.
It was not immediately clear how many passengers were inside the mobile lounge at the time of the crash.
Dulles has used mobile lounges since its opening in 1962. While once considered innovative, they are now seen as outdated, especially since the opening of the underground AeroTrain system in 2010. Still, the airport continues to rely on mobile lounges to transport international arrivals and connect some terminals.
A nominee to the MWAA’s board of directors recently told lawmakers he plans to phase out the mobile lounges at Dulles if he is confirmed to the post.
