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 said passengers were rebooked on other flights that departed Tuesday afternoon.
Atlanta-based Delta said the wing of a Delta Airbus A350 jet that was bound for Tokyo hit the tail of a smaller Bombardier CRJ-900 that was on an adjacent taxiway. The regional jet, operated by Delta subsidiary Endeavor Air, was preparing to take off for Lafayette, Louisiana.
“You know I just noticed that the tail on the RJ is missing,” an air traffic controller said, 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 answers back. “We’ll need a tow, though.”
Jason Adams, a meteorologist for WFTS-TV in Tampa, Florida, who is traveling to Louisiana to cover Tropical Storm Francine, recounted the moment of impact on social 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 posted pictures of the tail of the smaller plane knocked on its side and laying on the taxiway.
Delta said the wing of the larger plane was also damaged.
“We apologize to our customers for the experience,” the airline said in a statement.
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 said it would cooperate with the National Transportation Safety Board and other authorities to investigate. The Federal Aviation Administration says it is also investigating.
Airport officials described disruptions to operations at the world’s busiest airport as “minimal.” Delta said both planes would be moved to maintenance hangars.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.