Two Delta Air Lines regional jets collided on the taxiway at LaGuardia Airport in New York on Wednesday night, injuring a flight attendant and causing damage to both aircraft. Delta described the incident as a “low-speed collision”.
The wing of a Delta Connection plane preparing for departure to Roanoke, Virginia, with 32 people on board struck the fuselage of an arriving aircraft from Charlotte, North Carolina, carrying 61 people, according to a Delta statement. A flight attendant sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to hospital; no passengers were reported injured.
Air traffic control audio captured a pilot saying: “Their right wing clipped our nose and the cockpit we have damage to our windscreen and … some of our screens in here.” Passenger William Lusk told ABC that the arriving plane “stopped, jerked and jumped to the right”, and the pilot calmly announced they had been in a crash.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey confirmed the injury. Delta said it would cooperate with authorities to investigate the incident, adding: “Safety of our customers and people comes before all else.” The airport’s operations were not expected to be affected. Both aircraft are operated by Endeavor Air.
LaGuardia is among 35 major airports equipped with advanced surface radar systems to track ground movements and alert controllers to conflicts. The role of this system in the collision remains unclear. The incident adds to concerns about aviation safety following recent crashes and near misses, including the deadliest US plane crash in decades in Washington DC in January.
