A Delta Air Lines A350-900 bound for Tokyo “made contact” with the tail of a Delta Connection CRJ-900 in Atlanta, causing damage to both aircraft including slicing the tail off the smaller regional jet.
Details: Delta Air Lines A350-900 Collides With CRJ-900 In Atlanta
The incident occurred this morning, September 10, 2024, in Atlanta Hartsfield Jackon International Airport (ATL). Here’s what we know so far:
- DL295, flying to Tokyo (HND) and operated by an Airbus A350-900 (N503DN), made impact with DL5526, flying to Lafayette, Louisiana (LFT) and operated by a CRJ-900 (N302PQ), at 10:07 am this morning
- 221 passengers were on DL295 and 56 on DL5526
- The Delta Connection CRJ-900 was operated by Endeavor Air, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Delta
- Visible damage occurred, including the slicing of the regional jet’s T-tail and nose damage to the A350
Delta confirmed the incident and also said that no injuries were reported:
“At approximately 10:07 a.m., the wing of an Airbus A350 taxiing out as DL295 from Atlanta to Tokyo-Haneda made contact with the tail of an Endeavor Air CRJ-900, DL5526 to LaFayette, Louisiana, on an adjacent taxiway, resulting in damage to the tail of the regional jet and the wing of the A350. There have been no reported injuries at this time and customers are being transported back to the terminal where they will be re-accommodated on alternate flights.”
Just watched two planes hit each other while one was taking off. CRAZY! @Delta @FoxNews @FAANews pic.twitter.com/cjWazBa8oK
— Talbot Cox (@TalbotCox) September 10, 2024
Exclusive video of the Delta Airbus A350 and the DeltA CRJ-900 after they collided this morning during taxi in Atlanta#a350 #Delta #deltaairlines #aviation pic.twitter.com/WeNR9az28X
— A Fly Guy's Crew Lounge (@AFlyGuyTravels) September 10, 2024
There were 221 customers on DL295 and 56 customers on DL5526. At this time, no additional operational adjustments are expected.
Delta is cooperating with the NTSB and other authorities on this incident.
— Delta News Hub (@DeltaNewsHub) September 10, 2024
The two aircraft were presumably advancing per the direction of Atlanta Air Traffic Control (ATC). Could this have been an ATC error or was it more likely a pilot error?
CONCLUSION
Two Delta jets collided in ATL this morning. Thankfully, no injuries have been reported yet…but the future status of both aircraft is uncertain at this point.
This is a developing story.
“There were 221 customers on DL295 and 56 customers on DL5526. At this time, no additional operational adjustments are expected.”
They are called people. People who may have parents, spouses, kids, friends, co-workers, or neighbors who care for them…
I find hard to understand how this is possible. Those planes are usually at very low speed and pilots should be able to have some sort of warning regarding objects close to the plane. Most cars have sensors that alert drivers of proximity to objects, not sure why not have something similar on planes.
“not sure why not have something similar on planes”
Because it would be a “gimmick” excusing inattention by the pilots ?
An incident such as this is completely on the pilots .
Not sure I agree it would be a gimmick. The pilot of a A350-900 is sitting all the way in the front of the plane while maneuvering a monster plane with a huge wingspan. Truck drivers have mirrors. Not sure what pilots have but although I agree it is on the pilots to not hit anything I find it hard to be able to know how far the wing is from a much smaller plane that is around you. 360 view cameras, proximity sensors, are all available on cars now so they could be useful on planes.
@Santastico … A ‘gimmick’ in the sense that my Jeep , which does not have proximity warnings , places the burden onto me , the Jeep ‘pilot’ , to beware of nearby trees , autos , or shopping carts .
A pilot of an aircraft on the ground might excuse a collision by pointing to the ‘gimmick’ malfunctioning , when the pilot himself was inattentive , and didn’t notice another aircraft .
A more pertinent question might be the reckless ground procedures with too many aircraft movements . Perhaps too many gates and too many flights ought to be considered .
Strange how the language varies in the accounts.
Delta : made contact with another jet
ATC : collided with another jet
Passengers: knocked the the tail right off
Thankfully, no injuries reported, but many questions to be answered.
@Maryland … +1 .
According to the article, there were injuries.
“Delta confirmed the incident and also said that injuries were reported:”
Hopefully very minor, like a stubbed toe.
The Delta statement , which was quoted in italics , wrote : “There have been No reported injuries at this time” .
It’s amazing how fragile those airframes are. I wonder what Hoover has to say about this. He documents airplane safety on YT.
We’ve had several wing clipping events as of late.
Maybe pilots fail to appreciate the extended wing tips in the next generation of jets.
As an example, the following wing spands:
Boeing 767-300: 156 feet
Boeing 767-400: 170 feet
Boeing 787 – 9: 197 feet
Airbus 330 CEO: 198 feet
Airbus 330 NEO: 210 feet
Boeing 737 NG: 113 feet
Boeing 737 NG: 118 feet (with winglets)
Boeing 737 MAX: 118 feet
Also, the captain of the A330 could have been distracted or the CRJ-900 was told to hold short of the runway, but held a bit too short and should have been forward 10 to 15 feet.
Give it time, the Atlanta ATC tape will be on YouTube before the end of the week.
I wish they’d cut the tail off of every CR9 (and CR7 and CR2). It’s not 2011. Nobody wants to fly on those jets anymore. I’m surprised the world’s most premium airline even operates them.
So for those wondering responsibility is 100% on the crew of the A350. The CRJ is stopped holding short of the runway. The good news for the A350 crew is that the aircraft appears to be on the centerline.
Large wide bodies like this often have special clearance requirements because their wing span significantly exceeds the width of the taxi way. Unfortunately I can’t speak first hand to that. I can say though that as unbelievable as it seems in an aircraft like the 350 you can’t see the wingtips from the cockpit and have no warning device to warm you that your wingtip is about to hit something. Thus you’re essentially down to having a feel for when you can clear and when you can’t which makes most guys hyper conservative.
Clearly this crew misjudged their ability to clear the CRJ. I do find it interesting that they took the tail off the aircraft vice spinning it around like happened with the A380 and the CRJ in JFK.