Two Delta Air Lines planes collided on a taxiway at Atlanta’s airport Tuesday morning, with a larger plane knocking over the tail of a smaller regional jet.
No injuries were reported, and Delta confirmed that all affected passengers were rebooked on other flights that departed by Tuesday afternoon.
The incident occurred when the wing of a Delta Airbus A350, bound for Tokyo, collided with the tail of a Bombardier CRJ-900, which was positioned on an adjacent taxiway. The regional jet, operated by Delta subsidiary Endeavor Air, was preparing for takeoff to Lafayette, Louisiana.
“You know I just noticed that the tail on the RJ is missing,” an air traffic controller remarked, according to audio archives maintained by LiveATC.net. “So Endeavor 5526, hold your position, and do you require any immediate assistance?”
“No immediate assistance,” a pilot responded. “We’ll need a tow, though.”
Jason Adams, a meteorologist for WFTS-TV in Tampa, Florida, who was traveling to Louisiana to cover Tropical Storm Francine, provided a firsthand account of the moment on social media platform X.
“Well that was terrifying,” Adams wrote. “Taxiing out for the flight from Atlanta to Louisiana and another plane appears to have clipped the back of our plane. Very jarring, metal scraping sounds then loud bangs. We’re fine. No fire or smoke.”
Adams also posted pictures showing the tail of the smaller plane knocked on its side and laying on the taxiway.
Delta reported that the wing of the larger plane was damaged as well.
“We apologize to our customers for the experience,” the airline stated.
Officials at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport said passengers from one plane were bused back to the terminal, while the other plane returned to a gate under its own power. There were 221 passengers on the Airbus and 56 passengers on the regional jet.
Delta assured that they would cooperate fully with the National Transportation Safety Board and other authorities to investigate the incident. The Federal Aviation Administration has also launched an investigation.
Airport officials described disruptions to operations at the world’s busiest airport as “minimal.” Delta announced that both planes would be moved to maintenance hangars.
