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A Delta plane preparing to take-off from an Atlanta airport collided with a smaller jet and tore the aircraft's tail off on Tuesday.
Delta Air Lines Flight 295 was departing Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport for Tokyo when its wingtip hit the tail of Endeavor Air Flight 5526, bound for Louisiana, according to ABC News, citing the Federal Aviation Administration and Delta.
The collision snapped off the smaller jet's tail.
The planes collided at the intersection of two taxi lanes around 10:10 am local time, according to the FAA. There were no reported injuries on either plane. The FAA said it will investigate the collision.
The collision reportedly did not cause any major disruptions at the airport.
“There is minimal impact to airport operations,” an airport spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News. “Passengers from one of the aircraft are being bussed from the incident to the concourses. The second aircraft taxied under its own power to a concourse where passengers will deplane at their gate.”
After the incident, Delta released a statement saying that “customers are being transported back to the terminal where they will be reaccommodated on alternate flights.”
Endeavor Air is a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines.
On Tuesday, FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker spoke at an industry press conference and said that some — but not all — airports were installing technologies intended to help prevent runway incidents like the Delta collision, Reuters reports.
“We’ve started to deploy pretty simple off the shelf solution for controllers to get better situational awareness,” Whitaker said saying close calls were down by more than half in the first half of the year. “So there’s progress, but we need to get better. There’s no excuse for that happening.”
Earlier this year a Delta pilot’s quick thinking prevented a potential four-plane collision at New York’s JFK International Airport.
Audio of the incident at JFK International Airport captured air traffic controllers clearing a Swiss Air flight for takeoff. The pilot, realising he would collide with several other planes, aborted his takeoff. The near-miss took place on April 17, and was subsequently investigated by the FAA.
