Delta jets collide on tarmac at New York’s LaGuardia airport
Incident involved two CRJ-900 aircraft operated by Endeavor Air, a Delta regional carrier
Two Delta Air Lines regional planes collided at low speed while taxiing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport on Wednesday night, causing minor injuries to one flight attendant and prompting regulators to open an investigation.
Both planes were CRJ-900 aircraft operated by Endeavor Air. Endeavor Air Flight 5047 was heading to its gate at the airport when it struck Endeavor Air Flight 5155 around 10pm, the US Federal Aviation Administration, which is probing the incident, said in a statement on Thursday.
According to the regulator, air traffic control had instructed flight 5155 to hold short and yield to the other aircraft.
The National Transportation Safety Board said in a social media post Thursday that it’s also investigating the collision and that it had dispatched a team of 10 people to LaGuardia. The agency said the flight recorders from both planes have been recovered and are being analysed at NTSB headquarters in Washington.
Video footage posted on social media that appeared to be taken from inside a neighbouring plane showed flashing emergency vehicle lights on the tarmac and damage to a plane’s wing.
According to Delta, preliminary information indicates the wing of flight 5155, which was taxiing for departure to Roanoke, Virginia, made contact with the body of the other aircraft, which was arriving from Charlotte, North Carolina.