Two packed Delta jets crashed on the runway at LaGuardia Airport Wednesday night, ripping off a large part of a wing and destroying a plane’s nose in a horror accident that injured one flight attendant.
The CRJ-900 regional jets operated by Delta subsidiary Endeavor Air were taxiing when they suddenly crashed into each other at 9:56 p.m., according to the airline and authorities.
The wing of an aircraft carrying 32 people departing for Roanoke, Virginia, collided with the fuselage of an aircraft arriving from Charlotte, North Carolina, with 61 people aboard.
“Their right wing clipped our nose and the cockpit. We have damage to our windscreen and… some of our screens in here,” one pilot said in air traffic control audio.
Photos from the scene showed one plane’s windshield completely shattered and its nose banged up. A huge part of a jet’s wing was broken off.
At least one was injured after two Delta regional jets collided at low speeds while taxiing Wednesday evening at LaGuardia 🇺🇸
The right wing of one @Delta plane collided with the nose of the other plane, according to Air Traffic Control audio.https://t.co/ICrgCP2ZsM… pic.twitter.com/ffx9i4xftV
— Saad Abedine (@SaadAbedine) October 2, 2025
“We got absolutely smashed by another Delta flight. I don’t know if we hit them or they hit us, but it was super jarring,” CBS News producer Joey Annunziato, a passenger on the flight from Charlotte, said in a video recorded from his seat moments after impact.
“Everyone shot forward in their seats and it was kind of a little chaotic as soon as it happened. We were shocked at what happened.”
Annunziato said his plane was moving at a “decent clip” when the collision happened.
Another passenger, William Lusk, told ABC his plane suddenly “stopped, jerked, and jumped to the right” just after it landed.
“Everyone went dead silent. And as everyone went dead silent, the pilot calmly came on and said, ‘Hey, we’ve been in a crash, everyone remain calm,'” he said.
No passengers were injured. A flight attendant on board one aircraft suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said.
All 85 passengers were deplaned on the taxiway and transferred via buses back to Terminal C. The 28 passengers aboard Endeavor Air Flight 5155 and 57 passengers aboard Endeavor Air Flight 5047 were given the option to rebook their trips and offered hotel rooms and meals.
Photos and videos posted to social media captured emergency vehicles rushing toward the two regional jets in the immediate aftermath. Crew members and passengers were seen standing on the tarmac with police.
The accident unfolded within the first 24 hours of the Democrat-backed government shutdown that has upended federal services. Prior to the shutdown, airlines warned it could strain U.S. aviation and potentially slow flights given FAA air traffic controllers would be among those workers forced to work without pay.
Whistleblowers at the FAA have been sounding the alarm for months over the potential ramifications of job cuts within the department.
“Air traffic controllers cannot do their work without us,” an aeronautical data specialist impacted by the cuts told Politico in February. “To put it frankly, without our team… pilots would quite literally be flying blind.”
Earlier this year, a collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport killed 67 people on January 29. A small plane carrying 10 people crashed in Alaska on February 6, and two private jets collided at the Scottsdale Airport on February 10, killing one individual and injuring four.
It wasn’t immediately clear what caused Wednesday’s mishap or if staffing levels at LaGuardia were impacted at the time of the collision.
The Port Authority said LaGuardia’s airport operations weren’t impacted by the collision.
Delta vowed to work with the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board to investigate the incident.
“Delta teams at our New York-LaGuardia hub are working to ensure our customers are taken care of after two Delta Connection aircraft operated by Endeavor Air were involved in a low-speed collision during taxi,” the airline said. “Delta will work with all relevant authorities to review what occurred as the safety of our customers and people comes before all else. We apologize to our customers for the experience.”