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Obama's jet clips wing of 2nd plane

MIDWAY | No injuries; 'no one on board even felt it'

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January 13, 2008

Flying back home from Nevada after a long day of campaigning, presidential hopeful Barack Obama was safely on the ground when his chartered plane clipped the wing of another plane at Midway Airport.

No one was hurt in the incident early Saturday morning, but the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration want to know how it happened.

Both planes sustained minor damage.

Obama, though, apparently didn't even notice what happened -- nor did anyone else on the plane.

"No one on board even felt it," said Ben LaBolt, an Obama campaign spokesman.

In advance of the Nevada caucus Jan. 19, Obama on Friday made two appearances in Nevada -- a rally with Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano and an event with a culinary workers union.

He left late Friday on a Gulfstream II jet, along with 12 other people, including the plane's crew.

LaBolt declined to identify the flight crew but said the campaign had flown with them before.

Back to Nevada today

The plane landed around 2:30 a.m., "safely, without incident," said city Aviation Department spokesman Gregg Cunningham.

It was taxiing to a general aviation parking area for private planes near the south end of the airport, off 63rd Street. At that point, the plane's crew was under its own direction and no longer under the FAA's air traffic control, FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham-Cory said.

The plane's left wing then hit the right wing of a parked Cessna 208. No one was aboard the Cessna at the time.

Cunningham said neither plane was allowed to move from the spot of the collision until 9:15 a.m. Saturday.

The investigation could take weeks or months, Cory said.

Obama heads back to Nevada today.