A family of seven passengers is suing after a Japan Airlines 787 struck the tail of their Delta 737 at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The collision occurred at about 2.3 mph and the NTSB reported no injuries, which makes the claims rather extraordinary.
Seven Family Members Sue After Japan Airlines 787 Hits Delta 737 At 2.3 MPH
You may remember the bizarre ground collision at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) in February 2025, when the wingtip of a Japan Airlines Boeing 787-9 sliced into the vertical stabilizer of a stationary Delta Air Lines Boeing 737-800.
The pictures looked dramatic, but the actual collision occurred at extremely low speed.
According to the final NTSB report, the Japan Airlines 787 was taxiing at about two knots, or roughly 2.3 mph, when its right wingtip struck the Delta jet. The Delta aircraft was stopped with its parking brake set while waiting for access to the deicing area.
The NTSB determined that the Japan Airlines crew failed to maintain adequate clearance from the parked Delta aircraft. The Delta 737 sustained substantial damage to its tail while the JAL 787 sustained minor damage.
Most notably for what comes next, the NTSB recorded no injuries among the 144 passengers and six crewmembers aboard the Delta aircraft, nor among the 172 passengers and 13 crewmembers aboard the Japan Airlines jet.
Now seven members of the same extended family say they were injured.
Seven Relatives Claim Injuries From 2.3 MPH Collision
View From The Wing reports that Renardo Robertson has become the seventh member of his family to pursue an injury claim stemming from the collision.
Robertson alleges that the impact pushed and twisted the Delta aircraft, causing him to strike a console and injure his lower back, with symptoms extending down one leg. His complaint says he subsequently underwent significant and invasive medical treatment, although it does not identify the procedure or underlying diagnosis.
His wife, daughter, son-in-law, two granddaughters, and brother-in-law have also pursued claims arising from the same accident. It does not appear that any others passengers aboard the flight have filed a similar lawsuit.
Seven members of one family injured in a collision officially recorded as producing zero injuries among 335 people aboard the two airplanes?
Okay…
That does not mean the claims are necessarily fraudulent. An NTSB report recording no injuries at the scene does not preclude a passenger from developing pain later, and different people can respond differently to the same impact. Preexisting medical conditions can also make someone more vulnerable to injury.
But I think skepticism is entirely reasonable here.
Two knots is walking speed.
We’re not talking about a runway collision or a hard landing..the Japan Airlines wingtip essentially just grazed the tail of a parked Delta aircraft. And somehow every member of one traveling family allegedly emerged injured while nobody else aboard either plane did.
Perhaps discovery will produce medical records that explain it. If these passengers genuinely suffered injuries caused by the collision, they are entitled to pursue compensation. But Delta’s lawyers are certainly going to have some questions, as do I?
The Strange Part: Delta May Have To Pay Even Though JAL Hit It
The Delta flight was traveling from Seattle to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, meaning claims against Delta are governed by the Montreal Convention. Under that treaty, the operating carrier can be liable for bodily injury caused by an accident aboard the aircraft even when the carrier itself did not cause the accident.
And Delta appears to have done nothing wrong here.
Its 737 was stationary with the parking brake set. Traffic and deicing vehicles prevented the crew from moving forward, and the NTSB determined the probable cause was the Japan Airlines crew’s failure to maintain adequate clearance.
Yet because these passengers were traveling on Delta, Delta can still face Montreal Convention claims for injuries allegedly sustained aboard its aircraft. Claims directly against Japan Airlines face a different legal path because JAL was not transporting these passengers.
There’s another oddity: although the NTSB concluded that the JAL crew failed to maintain adequate clearance, federal law restricts the use of the NTSB accident report itself in a civil damages action. The evidence developed during the investigation can still matter, but the government’s probable-cause determination is not simply handed to a jury as proof of liability.
I would certainly expect Delta to implead JAL (i.e. bring in JAL as a third party defendant – a defendant does this when they claim that the new third party is partly or entirely responsible for the damages or liability claimed by the original plaintiff). Chances are this will never reach trial and whether scam or not, the family will get something to go away.
CONCLUSION
Seven relatives aboard the same Delta flight are now pursuing injury claims after a Japan Airlines 787 struck their parked 737 at approximately 2.3 mph. The NTSB recorded no injuries to anyone aboard either aircraft, making it quite remarkable that every member of this particular family now says otherwise.
Maybe the medical evidence will demonstrate injuries that were not apparent immediately after the collision, but when seven related passengers claim injuries from a walking-speed collision while everyone else apparently walked away unharmed, I’m certainly a bit suspicious.
image: @jacqpatton / X
and people ask why plane tickets cost so much…well who’s going to cover it when you sue because you tripped on your shoelace and blame delta?
Hmm. Casual walking speed 3 mph. Accident speed 2.5 mph. Perhaps the family was walking quickly to their attorney’s office.
Not sure if I missed the incident date but why is there deicing in the mid of summer?