Some members of our ABC Action News crew were on board a Delta flight bound for Louisiana when the wing of another plane struck its tail.
The incident involved an Airbus 350 and an Endeavor Bombardier CRJ900. Both were moving at Atlanta-Hartsfield International Airport when they collided. The Federal Aviation Administration said the collision happened at the intersection of two taxiways.
The FAA said the collision tore the tail off the smaller Endeavor Bombardier CRJ900.
ABC Action News Meteorologist Jason Adams and other crew were on board the Endeavor Bombardier at the time of the incident. They were traveling to Lafayette, Louisiana, to help our sister station, KATC, with hurricane coverage.
"The next thing you know, we hear metal scaring loud, like banging, like almost a tire popping sounds," Adams recounted. "Within about 15 seconds, done, and we're all just sitting there after people were screaming. It literally was that jarring that people were screaming like we were involved in like a significant crash or something."
The larger Delta jet, the Airbus 350, was preparing for a trip to Japan when the collision happened. Air Traffic Control recordings showed confusion, even in the cockpit, about what had gone wrong.
Airbus 350 pilot — "We just hit something on the taxiway. Can you tell me what it was?
Unknown — "The whole tail of that CRJ is off."
ATC — "Delta 295 hold short of victor, it does appear that you've struck the RJ that's holding short of 8 right."
Airbus pilot — "Okay, that's what we hit then. We were off the center line. Instructions were echo short of victor and understand, thank you."
Delta issued a statement about the incident at Atlanta-Hartsfield International late Tuesday morning.
“At approximately 10:07 a.m., the wing of an Airbus A350 taxiing out as DL295 from Atlanta to Tokyo-Haneda made contact with the tail of an Endeavor Air CRJ-900, DL5526 to LaFayette, Louisiana, on an adjacent taxiway, resulting in damage to the tail of the regional jet and the wing of the A350.
There have been no reported injuries at this time and customers are being transported back to the terminal where they will be reaccommodated on alternate flights.
There were 221 customers on DL295 and 56 customers on DL5526. At this time, no additional operational adjustments are expected.
Delta is cooperating with the NTSB and other authorities on this incident.”
For Captain Shem Malquist, Tuesday's incident is a reminder that airplane accidents and ground collisions are a reality. Malmquist, an active Boeing 777 pilot, said the bigger planes present more significant challenges.
"Something that people don't realize is that from the flight deck, I can't even see my wing tips," Captain Malmquist said. "Even if I press my head against the glass, I cannot see the wing tips. They are way further back. And so, if you're clearing something is not all that you know, not that obvious."
Those ground collisions are not new. The NTSB said there were 281 non-fatal accidents on airport taxiways between 2012 and 2021. The FAA said runway incursions are even more frequent, with more than 1,400 since October 2023.
As for Tuesday's incident, the regional jet's passengers were eventually taken by bus back to the terminal, while the A350 taxied back to the gate on its own with the passengers. Delta said it worked to get all passengers on new flights to their destinations.
The FAA will lead the investigation into Tuesday's collision.
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