Delta Airlines plane collides with Air Canada jet at Los Angeles airport

Delta Airline jets taxis down runway past Air Canada plane in Los Angeles International Airport. (This photo was taken in 2013.) Photo by Bloomberg

Article content

An Air Canada jet was involved in a collision with a jet from Delta Air Lines at Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday morning.

Article content

The Delta plane was taxiing for departure when its left wingtip clipped the horizontal stabilizer of Air Canada Flight 875, reported the LA Times.

Article content

Article content

“The Air Canada flight was being towed when it stopped short of its gate,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

Article content

The pilot of the Air Canada plane can be heard telling an air traffic controller that they “felt a shudder” and asking if everything looked okay, according to audio captured by LiveATC.net. The Delta pilot informed air traffic control that they were stopping due to an “issue with the wing tip.”

Article content

The Delta flight was about to depart for Tokyo Haneda Airport, local TV news station KTLA 5 reported.

Article content

The news station obtained aerial footage of the incident via its Sky 5 Telecopter, showing that other planes were operational nearby while ground crews attended to the two aircraft involved. The footage shows part of the Delta plane’s wing dangling on the Air Canada plane’s rear stabilizer, the horizontal fin perpendicular to the tail.

Article content

Article content

Article content

An investigation is ongoing, according to People Magazine. A spokesperson for LAX told PEOPLE: “We are aware of an incident involving a Delta Air Lines aircraft and an Air Canada aircraft on a taxiway at LAX, not a runway. No injuries have been reported, and flights at LAX continue to operate normally. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (were) notified.”

Article content

Article content

A Delta spokesperson told People that 275 customers and 15 crew members were on board at the time of the incident. No injuries were reported.

Article content

People stated that Air Canada spokesperson Sean Davidson told the publication its aircraft had recently arrived from a Toronto to L.A. flight. He confirmed it was being towed to the gate when “an aircraft operated by another airline made contact with its tail.”

Article content

No injuries were reported on the Air Canada plane. The aircraft was taken out of service for inspection and repairs.

Article content

Article content