Two Delta planes collided on a runway Tuesday at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia, resulting in the smaller plane’s tail being clipped off, the airline said.
Delta Airlines released a statement that claimed there were “no reported injuries at this time and customers are being transported back to the terminal” and will be provided alternate flights for their trouble.
The airport confirmed these details in a press statement posted on social media.
At 10:07AM, two aircraft made contact at the intersection of taxiways E and H on the north airfield. No injuries are reported. Passengers from one aircraft are being bussed to concourse B; the other aircraft taxied on its own power to its gate. There is minimal impact to ops.
— Atlanta Airport (@ATLairport) September 10, 2024
The airline claimed that the larger plane held 221 customers and the smaller plane contained 56. One plane was heading for Tokyo whereas the other was heading for Louisiana, the press release said. (RELATED: 3 Dead After Oregon Plane Crash Results In Five-Alarm Fire, Thousands Without Power)
“There is minimal impact to airport operations,” an airport spokesperson said, ABC News reported. “The second aircraft taxied under its own power to a concourse where passengers will deplane at their gate.”
BREAKING: A plane clipped a second plane on a taxiway at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Tuesday morning, tearing the tail off the smaller plane.
No one was injured on either plane, according to Delta.https://t.co/WTnxY7ClWC pic.twitter.com/uYM4XC2DDn
— ABC News (@ABC) September 10, 2024
Delta announced that they were cooperating with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) “and other authorities” who were investigating the incident in their press release. NTSB is the federal agency chartered by Congress to have independent investigatory powers into civil aviation and transportation related accidents and incidents, the agency’s website says.
A Delta Airlines airplane bound for the Netherlands was forced to return to Utah after losing an engine pylon panel during takeoff back in March.
Two planes — one Delta and the other from American Airlines — nearly collided with each other on a runway at John F. Kennedy International Airport back in January 2023. A similar near miss incident occurred on a runway at D.C.’s Reagan Airport in April.
A Korean Air Lines plane collided with a stationary Cathay Pacific Airways plane at a Japanese airport back in January. That particular incident marked the second time such a mishap occurred at the airport in two weeks.