Delta Planes Collide at LaGuardia Taxiway, Flight Attendant Injured/ Newslooks/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ Morning Edition/ Two Delta regional jets collided at New York’s LaGuardia Airport on a taxiway, injuring one flight attendant. The low-speed impact caused significant nose and wing damage but no passenger injuries. The FAA is investigating the incident, which involved Delta Connection CRJ-900 aircraft.
LaGuardia Collision Quick Looks
- Incident: Two Delta regional jets collided Wednesday night on LaGuardia taxiway
- Casualty: One flight attendant injured, non-life threatening
- Damage: Shattered cockpit windows, gouged nose cone, broken wing
- Flights: One jet was departing for Roanoke, VA; the other arriving from Charlotte, NC
- Passengers: 32 on departing plane, 61 on arriving plane — all unharmed
- Operator: Delta Connection, operated by Endeavor Air, CRJ-900 aircraft
- Investigation: FAA reviewing collision; airport operations unaffected
- Safety context: LaGuardia among 35 U.S. airports with FAA advanced surface radar systems
Delta Planes Collide at LaGuardia Taxiway, Flight Attendant Injured
Deep Look
NEW YORK — A dramatic taxiway collision at New York’s LaGuardia Airport left a flight attendant injured and two Delta Connection regional jets damaged Wednesday night, in what officials described as a “low-speed collision.”
According to Delta Air Lines, a CRJ-900 regional jet with 32 passengers bound for Roanoke, Virginia, clipped the fuselage of another CRJ-900 arriving from Charlotte, North Carolina, carrying 61 people. The incident occurred as the departing plane’s wing struck the arriving jet while both were taxiing.
Damage and Injuries
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey confirmed that a flight attendant suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to a hospital. No passenger injuries were reported.
Cockpit audio from the scene captured a pilot calmly informing controllers:
“Their right wing clipped our nose and the cockpit we have damage to our windscreen and … some of our screens in here.”
Photos showed the aftermath: one aircraft’s cockpit window shattered and nose cone gouged, while the other sustained severe wing damage.
Passenger William Lusk, on board the arriving plane, recalled the moment of impact:
“The plane stopped, jerked, and jumped to the right. Everyone went dead silent … then the pilot said, ‘Hey, we’ve been in a crash, everyone remain calm.’”
FAA Investigation
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed that both planes involved were CRJ-900s operated by Endeavor Air for Delta Connection. These aircraft typically seat between 70 and 90 passengers.
The FAA is investigating the cause. LaGuardia is one of 35 major airports equipped with advanced ground radar systems designed to alert controllers to potential collisions. It remains unclear whether the system played any role in this incident.
Broader Safety Concerns
While Delta emphasized that operations at LaGuardia were not disrupted, the collision adds to heightened concerns over aviation safety. It comes after a string of close calls and near misses in U.S. airspace, as well as the deadliest plane crash in decades, when a commercial jet collided with an Army helicopter earlier this year.
In its statement, Delta pledged full cooperation:
“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.”
Context
The crash underscores how even with advanced FAA radar monitoring systems, ground movement at congested airports like LaGuardia can be risky. While rare, ground collisions tend to highlight weaknesses in communication, human oversight, or mechanical processes that aviation authorities continually work to improve.
For passengers, the collision serves as a reminder that aviation safety concerns extend beyond flights in the air — the most dangerous moments are often during takeoff, landing, and taxiing.
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