WestJet Boeing 737 MAX 8 Damaged After Colliding With Catering Truck In Toronto

Published Oct 28, 2026, 6:01 PM EDT Paul has had a career of 25+ years focused on the international technology sector, which has taken him to over 100 countries. Along the way, he developed a deep love for aviation, with a travel bucket list measured by aircraft types flown rather than destinations reached. Now he brings that avgeek passion, along with the journalism experience he accumulated early in his career, to write insightful pieces for Simple Flying. A WestJet aircraft collided with a catering truck at Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) on Tuesday evening, October 27, 2026. Footage of the incident circulated on social media, initially accompanied by claims that the aircraft was taxiing to its gate following a flight. However, the airline and authorities have since clarified that the aircraft was being towed. Global News reports that nobody was injured in the incident, and there were no passengers or flight crew onboard. Although the extent of the aircraft's damage remains unclear, the collision highlights a wider ground-handling challenge with vehicles moving in close proximity to aircraft. Scores of similar incidents have afflicted numerous airlines worldwide in recent years, leading to expensive repairs, canceled flights, and prolonged groundings. WestJet Aircraft Strikes Truck During Tow Credit: Photo: Robin Guess | Shutterstock According to Canada's Transportation Safety Board (TSB), the collision occurred at approximately 8:15 PM on Tuesday evening, with the airport's emergency response units activated shortly thereafter. The aircraft, identified as C-FRYV, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, had arrived at YYZ two hours earlier after operating WS2221 from Puerto Vallarta's Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport(PVR). Contrary to initial reports, the aircraft was not taxiing under its own power after landing, but rather was being towed, and had no passengers or crew on board. A WestJet spokesperson subsequently confirmed this to Simple Flying: "WestJet can confirm that an aircraft winglet made contact with a parked catering truck while being towed to an overnight parking pad at Toronto Pearson International Airport. There were no guests on board, and no injuries were reported." The TSB confirmed that the movement was unrelated to a prior or planned flight, and said that while it was gathering information about the incident, it did not plan to deploy investigators. The extent of the damage to the aircraft and any subsequent operational disruption has not been officially confirmed. Catering Truck Collisions Are More Common Than You Think This is not WestJet's first encounter with a catering truck. Back in 2019, one of its aircraft was reversed into one while being pushed back from the gate at Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Given that catering vehicles operate extremely close to aircraft wings, engines, and fuselages, typically using hydraulic lifts to reach cabin doors, the risk of collisions is high, as is evidenced by numerous global incidents in recent years: Date Airline Aircraft Type Airport Details May 2026 United Airlines Airbus A320 Washington DC Struck at rear fuselage; subsequently sent for scrapping. Apr. 2026 Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Singapore A380 engine cowling struck; replacement aircraft required. Apr. 2026 IndiGo Airbus A320 Kolkata Unattended catering vehicle rolled into an A320 engine. Jun. 2025 American Eagle Embraer E175 Boston Catering van struck E175; driver injured. Mar. 2025 LATAM Boeing 777-300ER Milan Truck pierced 777 fuselage; flight canceled. Dec. 2024 United Airlines Boeing 737-900ER Miami Catering truck overturned during 737 towing collision. Nov. 2024 Delta Air Lines Boeing 737-900 Sacramento Taxiing 737 clipped truck with wing. Sep. 2024 Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-700 Seattle Catering truck struck parked aircraft. Jan. 2024 Lufthansa Airbus A321-200 Frankfurt Truck punctured A321's rear fuselage. Mar. 2023 Viva Aerobus Airbus A320 Guadalajara Truck struck a parked A320's rear fuselage. May 2022 Flyadeal Airbus A320neo Riyadh Truck damaged the nose radome. Dec. 2021 LOT Polish Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 London Heathrow 737 MAX winglet damaged; flight canceled. Feb. 2020 Japan Airlines Boeing 767-300 Jakarta 767 fuselage damaged; return flight canceled. Some incidents have been particularly costly. In May this year, a catering truck damaged a United Airlines Airbus A320 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), leading to the aircraft being scrapped. Meanwhile a LATAM Airlines Boeing 777 damaged at Milan in March 2025 remained out of commercial service for nearly three weeks. The frequency of reported mishaps has also encouraged some gallows humor online. Among the comments beneath the WestJet incident video were "Cmon. There's a Delta A350 around there somewhere" and "Oh my, all that delicious airplane food will be wasted." The first joke recalls some of Delta Air Lines' recent high-profile ground collisions, including an incident earlier this month which left an A350-900's winglet wedged in the tail of an Air Canada aircraft. Ground Damage Can Be Extremely Expensive Credit: BeAvPhoto I Shutterstock A report published by AviationPros cited six years of data from the International Standard for Business Aircraft Handling program. Contact with ground-support equipment or vehicles featured in 26% of incidents, while towing or pushback was implicated in 25%. While these potentially overlapping categories describe a business-aviation dataset, they are indicative of the same risk to commercial aircraft. Ground Damage Factor Share Vehicles or ground-support equipment 26% Towing or pushback 25% Fixed objects 15% Other aircraft 10% The financial implications are substantial. According to IATA's 2025 Annual Safety Report, ground damage costs the industry more than $4.5 billion annually, potentially reaching $9.7 billion within 15 years without further preventive measures. Aviation consultant Steven Bentley separately estimated around $250,000 in direct costs for a typical ramp accident, with indirect costs potentially ten times the physical repair bill. Those indirect costs include replacement aircraft, maintenance personnel, passenger rebooking, accommodation, and lost aircraft availability. Using examples from above, the Singapore Airlines catering truck strike forced the airline to substitute an Airbus A380, delaying its Frankfurt departure by hours and ultimately canceling the return flight because of the airport's curfew. The LATAM incident led to estimated costs that ran into millions of dollars. For WestJet, the eventual repair bill for its MAX 8 and the time out of service remains unknown for now.