18 injured after mobile lounge crashes at Dulles International Airport

At least 18 people were injured Monday when a mobile lounge that was shuttling passengers at Dulles International Airport crashed into a dock as it was pulling up to the building.

The vehicle was transporting passengers to Concourse D when it “struck the dock at an angle as it was pulling up to the building” at about 4:30 p.m. ET, a Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority spokesperson said.

The “people mover” is used for boarding and offloading passengers onto aircraft.

Passengers were forced to evacuate using the people mover’s stairs.

All 18 people who were hurt had injuries described as non-life-threatening, the Washington Airports Authority said.

Airport officials declined to comment on how many people were on board the mobile lounge when it crashed. They also did not say if anyone outside the lounge was hurt or whether any airport personnel were injured.

The accident occurred on a day when major airports nationwide continued to deal with delays and cancellations caused by the shutdown of the federal government.

Mobile lounges are unique to Dulles International Airport, which was designed in 1958 by Finnish-born architect Eero Saarinen.

Dulles was built without any concourses or gates, and the mobile lounges were designed to shuttle up to 120 riders between the airport terminals and aircraft.

The mobile lounges debuted in 1962. While there had been discussions about retiring the fleet about a decade ago, a $16.4 million overhaul was approved in 2023.

Dulles remained open and operating as usual after the incident, according to the Washington Airports Authority.

Unrelated flight restrictions, put into motion to maintain safety during the government shutdown, also continued, authorities said.

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