The National Transportation Safety Board released details of how two Delta airplanes collided on a taxiway at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport last month.
The incident occurred just after 10 a.m. Sept. 10 at the world’s busiest airport, when the wing tip of a Delta Airbus A350 jumbo jet hit the tail of a Delta Connection CRJ-900 regional jet, causing substantial damage to the tail of the CRJ-900. Photos from the scene showed the tail of the regional jet knocked over.
The NTSB’s aviation investigation preliminary report released Tuesday said a flight attendant on the CRJ operated by Endeavor Air sustained a minor injury, and that no one else was injured.
Delta in a statement Tuesday said it “continues to fully cooperate with the NTSB in the ongoing investigation and we’ll decline to comment further.”
Both planes were taxiing on the same taxiway when the CRJ turned right, then held short of an intersecting runway. The CRJ captain indicated she was awaiting further instruction from air traffic control. Endeavor said the nose landing gear of the CRJ was about 56 feet from the hold short line, the NTSB report said.
The A350 flight crew while taxiing received an alert, and told the air traffic control tower it would need to stop to coordinate with maintenance departure. Air traffic control instructed the crew to continue straight, then hold short of a different taxiway to work on the problem.
The CRJ was stopped on a perpendicular taxiway to the right of the A350.
Credit: Source: NTSB
Credit: Source: NTSB
“The captain (of the A350) indicated that, as the airplane approached the intersection with taxiway V, he was looking straight ahead and to the left to avoid the left wing tip from impinging on opposite direction traffic coming off taxiway V. At that time, the right wing tip of the A350 impacted the vertical stabilizer of the CRJ,” the NTSB report said.
The A350 was taxiing at a groundspeed of about 12 knots, the NTSB report said. Twelve knots is around 14 mph.
The A350 was Delta Flight 295 with 221 passengers bound for Tokyo. The CRJ-900 was Flight 5526 with 56 passengers headed to Lafayette, Louisiana. Delta said it placed passengers on other flights, and apologized to them for the experience.
The investigation continues, and the NTSB said the information is preliminary and subject to change.
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