A video has been posted on Reddit On Thursday, it appears that a Tesla vehicle is slowly crashing into a $3.5 million private jet after being “recalled” by its owner using the automaker’s automatic parking feature.
The Reddit user (who did not immediately respond to a request for comment) said the incident happened during an event sponsored by aircraft manufacturer Cirrus at Felts Field in Spokane, Washington.
The smartphone video appears to capture surveillance camera footage of the Tesla slowly colliding and then actually pushing Cirrus Vision Jet over the asphalt. A Felts Field spokesperson also did not respond to a request for comment.
According to the poster, the Tesla owner used the “Smart Summon” feature that allows a Tesla vehicle to exit a parking space and navigate around obstacles to the owner. Using only the Tesla app on your smartphone, you can ‘call’ your car to you from a maximum distance of 60 meters, as long as the car is within your line of sight.
The Reddit user said they also own a Tesla Model Y, but weren’t the “poor soul (with poor decision-making skills) who called his Tesla around several expensive planes – only to crash it into the most expensive ($3,500,000) !”
Smart Summon was first rolled out in 2019 and Tesla owners immediately started posting videos of near-crashes or confused, slow-moving vehicles. A Tesla owner tweeted about “front bumper damage“while another claimed their Model 3”ran into the side of [a] garage†
A video of a near collision with a speeding SUV left the owner feeling their test of Smart Summon “didn’t go too well”. Another Tesla was filmed by pedestrians and people in other cars who appeared confused while trying to get across a Walmart parking lot.
A newer version of the feature will allow owners to recall their Tesla vehicles from further afield and navigate more complex parking environments, according to Electrek† Tesla CEO Elon Musk has described Smart Summon as the company’s “most viral feature ever.”