2 regional Delta jets collide at LaGuardia airport, with a wing slamming into a cockpit window
By Aaron Cooper, CNN
New York (CNN) — The National Transportation Safety Board is now investigating after two Delta Air Lines regional jets collided on the taxiway at New York’s LaGuardia Airport Wednesday night, with the wing of one aircraft slamming into the cockpit windows of the other.
One person was taken to a hospital, airport officials said, in the rare and frightening incident.
Both aircraft involved in the “low-speed collision” were CRJ-900 regional jets operated by regional carrier Endeavor Air, according to a statement from Delta.
“Our pilot slammed on the brakes, but unfortunately, we t-boned the other plane,” passenger Nate Cicero told CNN affiliate WABC. “Once you looked up out the window and saw, saw the other plane there, we were going right towards them. It was inevitable crash.”
Flight 5047 had just arrived from Charlotte, North Carolina, when the wing of flight 5155, preparing to depart for Roanoke, Virginia, hit the nose of their aircraft. “We have two CRJs on (taxiway) M that collided,” the pilot of flight 5047 radioed the ground controller in audio recorded by LiveATC.net. “Their right wing clipped our nose and the cockpit wind screens.”
The collision happened at the intersection of taxiway M and A, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement Thursday morning. The agency is investigating what caused the crash, but noted air traffic control had instructed flight 5155 to wait to cross the intersection and yield to the other aircraft.
The pilot of flight 5155 reported one flight attendant had injured her knee in the collision, the air traffic control audio said. One person was taken to the hospital, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport. No one else was injured.
“The NTSB dispatched a team of 10 to LaGuardia,” spokesman Eric Weiss said in a statement. “Flight recorders from both airplanes have been recovered and are now at NTSB headquarters in Washington for readout and analysis.”
The NTSB typically releases a preliminary report on accidents within 30 days, and a full report, which determines probable cause, in 12 to 18 months.
“Delta will work with all relevant authorities to review what occurred as safety of our customers and people comes before all else. We apologize to our customers for the experience,” the airline said in a statement.
The flight from Charlotte had 57 passengers onboard and the flight to Roanoke had 28 passengers, according to Delta. They were taken to the terminal by bus and were offered hotel room and meals.
The Port Authority says the incident did not impact airport operations.
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CNN’s Diego Mendoza contributed to this report.
