Two planes collide on runway of world’s busiest airport

The world's busiest airport. Photo / Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

A Delta Air Lines plane had its tail ripped off after it collided with another plane as it prepared to take off at an airport in Atlanta Georgia.

On Tuesday at 10.10 local time, Delta Air Lines flight 295 was getting ready for departure from the busy Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and heading for Tokyo when its wingtip “struck the tail” of a smaller jet operated by the same airline, Endeavor Air Flight 5526, the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) said in a statement.

Speaking to CNN, Delta Air Lines spokesperson Anthony Black said no one was injured and passengers on the Endeavour flight, bound for Louisiana, were returned to the terminal by bus.

The FAA is investigating.

Photos and video on social media show the smaller aircraft’s tail detached from the main body surrounded by emergency aviation authorities.

Delta Air Lines A350-941 collides with a Delta Connection Bombardier CRJ-900LR at Atlanta International Airport.

The accident resulted in the vertical and horizontal stabilizer of the CRJ being severed from the aircraft.

According to Delta Air Lines, the wing of an Airbus A350… pic.twitter.com/F1kbHbbOT6

— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) September 10, 2024

In an audio recording of the live air traffic control, a pilot from Delta 295 is heard asking: “We just hit something on the taxiway. Could you tell us what it was?”.

“The whole tail of that CRJ [Endeavour Air’s Bombardier CRJ 900] is off,” a man from an unknown station is heard responding moments later.

In a statement, Delta Air Lines said: “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.”

❗❗❗10-SEP-2024❗❗❗
“The whole tail is off”. Ground collision at Atlanta. Delta A350 and Endeavor CRJ-900. Real ATC
Full video: https://t.co/I6qiBUYtUp pic.twitter.com/K7orBzcRQ6

— YOU CAN SEE ATC (@RealATCComms) September 10, 2024

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has claimed the title of the world’s busiest airport every year since 1998, handling more than 100 million passengers annually.

Last month in New Zealand, a plane collided with a parked aircraft at Waihī Beach airfield.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), an aircraft lost control taking off and crashed into a parked, unattended plane on August 14.

“At the peak of the incident, four fire trucks and one support vehicle from Mayor View and Waihī fire brigades attended the scene,” said Fire and Emergency NZ northern shift manager Michael Anderson.

The CAA confirmed that nobody was injured.