Jet Bridge at Santa Barbara Airport Collapses During Maintenance, Injuring Two Employees
Andrew Gillies
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – A jet bridge that was out of service collapsed at the Santa Barbara Airport during maintenance Tuesday morning, resulting in minor injuries to two airport employees.
The two employees were transported to Cottage Hospital with minor injuries, and there were no other emergency impacts from the incident, according to the Santa Barbara City Fire Department. Airport Director Chris Hastert said the employees are expected to recover.
The collapse happened at Gate 2 while the bridge was undergoing maintenance. No passengers were on the jet bridge at the time, and flight schedules are not expected to be affected. A jet bridge, also known as a passenger boarding bridge, is the enclosed movable walkway that connects the terminal gate to the aircraft.
“This will obviously take a bridge out of service for a while, so it will be a little bit of a scramble for operations and the airlines to make it all work—and we will make it work,” Hastert said. “I’m just really very happy that our two employees are actually going to be okay, because it could have been much worse.”
The Santa Barbara Airport said the exact cause of the collapse is under internal investigation. No other bridges were slated for maintenance, but all of them have since been inspected with no problems detected.
“This is the first time something like this has happened at Santa Barbara Airport, and we are taking the steps to determine what the exact cause was,” Hastert added. “It appears to be an isolated incident, but the safety of our passengers and our staff remains our number one priority.”
Some passengers expressed surprise about the collapse. “It is not LAX, it is not a particularly busy place, doesn’t get used that much, so how can it collapse? It is odd,” said Greg Collier, who was picking up a passenger.
Others took a more measured view. “We have flown in and out of here many, many years and everything has been safe,” said Judy Gaede. “We figured they were doing maintenance work and something just went wrong, but it wasn’t what we were worried about at all.”
Passenger Sue Eisaguire also said her travel was unaffected. “I am glad I wasn’t there—everything was fine for our flight, so no problems today.”
Repairs are already underway at the airport, and while passengers may notice the work at Gate 2, delays are not expected.
The map below, courtesy of the Santa Barbara Airport, shows the location of Gate 2 in front of the passenger screening area on the second floor.
For more information about departures and arrivals from the Santa Barbara Airport, visit here or check with your airline.