Over a dozen people were injured after a mobile lounge crashed into a loading dock in Washington. Mobile lounges, nicknamed “moon buggies” are used to transport passengers between their gates and the main terminal building.
18 Injured After Mobile Lounge Hits Loading Dock
The incident occurred around 4:30p local time on Monday November 10, 2025 when a moon buggy transporting passengers to Concourse D crashed into a loading dock at Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD).
According to a spokesperson from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), the mobile lounge struck the dock at an angle as it arrived at Concourse D. After striking the dock, passengers had to be evacuated from the mobile lounge via stairs. 18 passengers were taken to local hospitals after the incident, though all reportedly had non-life threatening injuries.
Dulles Airport issued a statement regarding the incident, stating:
Around 4:30 p.m., a mobile lounge transporting passengers to Concourse D at Dulles struck the dock at an angle as it was pulling up to the building. Passengers deboarded the mobile lounge via stairs. They are being evaluated by Airports Authority Fire & Rescue personnel for possible injuries. The airport is open and operating as normal.
Social media posts sharing video of the aftermath show a large number of emergency personnel on the scene, though the airport is operating as normal. Or as normal as cam be expected given the issues with current air traffic controller capacity amid the government shutdown.
What Are Mobile Lounges?
For those of you who aren’t familiar with mobile lounges, they were first introduced in the 1960s as part of Eero Saarinen’s plans for Dulles Airport. These lounges were used to shuttle passengers from the main terminal building to waiting aircraft but, the introduction of jet bridges cut down on the use case for them. Currently, mobile lounges are only in use at Dulles and Montréal–Trudeau International Airport (YUL).
Currently, Dulles Airport uses these mobile lounges to shuttle passengers between the two midfield concourse buildings and the main terminal. Each mobile lounge has the capacity for up to 102 people, with 71 seated.
The airport eventually plans to phase out the use of these mobile lounges once the replacements for Concourses C and D are built. While they aren’t the most efficient way to transport passengers, taking a ride on a mobile lounge gives you some great views of the airfield.
Summary
On November 10, 2025, a mobile lounge crashed into a loading dock at Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), injuring passengers. The passengers were being transported to Concourse D when the incident occurred and were forced to evacuate via stairs. 18 people were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.