In a startling mishap at New York's bustling LaGuardia Airport, two Delta Air Lines regional jets collided on the taxiway Wednesday evening, leaving one flight attendant with minor injuries and prompting a swift federal probe. The incident unfolded around 8 p.m., as one aircraft—bound for Roanoke, Virginia, with 32 passengers and crew aboard—was lining up for takeoff. It clipped the fuselage of another jet that had just arrived from Charlotte, North Carolina, carrying 61 people. Indeed, the force was enough to shear off part of a wing and shatter cockpit windows, though fortunately, no one else was seriously hurt.
Officials described it as a low-speed collision, the kind that might seem minor on paper but underscores the razor-thin margins in air travel logistics. Air traffic control audio captured the tense moments, with controllers urgently directing ground crews to the scene. Passengers on both planes were safely deplaned right there on the tarmac and bused back to Terminal C, where Delta handed out vouchers for food, hotels, and rebooked flights. Moreover, the airline emphasized its commitment to safety, vowing a thorough review alongside the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board. However, questions linger about how such a close call happened amid LaGuardia's notoriously cramped layout.
This isn't the first ground incident at LGA, that aging hub squeezed between city skyscrapers and waterways, but it hits hard for Delta, already navigating a rocky recovery from recent operational woes. The Port Authority reported no broader disruptions to flights, a small mercy on a night when thousands were shuffling through. Eyewitness videos circulating online show the twisted wreckage under floodlights, the right wing of the departing jet mangled against the nose of the incoming one—a visual reminder of aviation's vulnerabilities even before wheels leave the ground.
One can't help but wonder if tighter ground protocols might prevent the next such scrape, as investigators piece together what went awry in those critical seconds.