Delta Airlines has been going through a series of complex and concerning situations lately. While the airline was only one of several impacted by the global IT outage, it has struggled to recover. It is still considered one of the top airlines globally, but some travelers may come to doubt that reputation.
Just two weeks ago, the airline lost two workers to a tragic incident at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. And recently, another curious incident has occurred at the same airport. Confusion remains among the public as to why two Delta Airlines planes crashed and caused a bit of a panic. Here is the latest on the collision incident.
Delta Airlines Planes Crash In Mysterious Turn Of Events
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the incident occurred on September 10 around 10:10 a.m. local time with commercial aircraft. Delta Airlines’s press statement states that the incident happened precisely at 10:07 a.m. on a taxiway. Both statements corroborate the fact that a Delta aircraft struck another plane on the adjacent taxiway, causing significant damage to both planes.
The situation unfolded at the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL) between a Delta flight and Endeavor Air flight. Endeavor Air is a regional airline and subsidiary of Delta Air Lines. The Delta flight DL295 was on an Airbus A350 and the Endeavor Air flight DL5526 was on a Bombardier CRJ-900. DL295 was scheduled to depart from Atlanta around 9:50 a.m. local time to arrive at Tokyo-Haneda Airport (HND) around 5:22 p.m. local time, according to FlightAware. DL5526 was on its way from Atlanta to Lafayette, Louisiana. It was scheduled to depart at around 10:09 a.m. local time and arrive at the Lafayette Regional Airport (LFT) at 10:45 a.m. local time.
What Happened?
While runway collisions are already pretty rare, it does not commonly happen between associated airlines. This connection would typically make the public assume there would be seamless communication between the two to avoid situations like this. Unfortunately, this did not matter on September 10.
Airbus A350 was taxiing, or slowly moving under its own power. It “made contact with” the tail of the other plane, according to the airline. The 221 customers between both planes were accommodated on other flights soon after the incident. While there have been no reports of injuries so far and the whole thing went over relatively smoothly, there is an investigation underway. The reason for the collision is still unclear. The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are reportedly both looking into the incident.