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I’ve found a good ice breaker at a party for me has been, “So, my flight to Vegas was once hit by a truck.” Â There’s usually a brief pause followed by, “Wait, WHAT?!”
Fortunately, there were no injuries.
A US Airways flight was delayed three hours Monday after a de-icing vehicle clipped the side of the plane, airline officials said. The plane was set to leave Logan International Airport Monday afternoon when the vehicle hit the side of the plane just before takeoff.
It’s hard to feel blame or anger for the airline in this situation because they could not have planned for or prevented this. Â But I’ve found it easier to get compensation when my flight was hit by a truck than in any other situation.
I expected the airline to say the accident was a force majeure and that I wasn’t entitled to any compensation. Â But when I submitted my claim, I received a few hundred dollars in compensation.
I also got more wiggle room on other things. Â After the flight was cancelled, they split my and my traveling companion’s tickets. Â For the return flight, the other person on my original ticket did not get upgraded.
When I called US Airways, they told me once a ticket is split, it is out of their hands.  I mentioned it was split involuntarily due to a truck hitting  our plane.  There was a pause then a typetypetype sound.  “Your plane was REALLY hit by a truck?!  Oh my gosh!”  A few moments later, my traveling companion was upgraded.
So remember, it doesn’t hurt to ask in bizarre cases like this.
And if your flight is cancelled, don’t forget to follow this guide to how to take care of things.
If it makes you feel better, my BA Boeing 787 got dinged by a luggage loader at Toronto.
Five hour delay plus a Six and a half hour flight… that was a long way home… (the 30,000 Avios didn’t hurt though.)
Yikes! I was on a spirit flight that got dinged once but they never admitted it (even though I saw it get hit!)
The Vegas flight, a food truck took out the engine. Ouch!