NEW YORK – Two Delta Air Lines regional jets were involved in a low-speed collision on the taxiway at LaGuardia Airport on Wednesday evening, resulting in minor injuries to a flight attendant and significant damage to both aircraft. The incident occurred around 9:56 PM Eastern Time, according to reports from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The collision involved Endeavor Air Flight 5047, which was arriving from Charlotte, North Carolina, and Endeavor Air Flight 5155, which was preparing for departure to Roanoke, Virginia. Preliminary information indicates that the right wing of the departing aircraft made contact with the nose and fuselage of the arriving aircraft, causing one plane’s wing to detach and significant damage to the other’s windshield and cockpit screens.
A flight attendant sustained minor injuries and received treatment from EMTs at the scene before being transported to a local hospital as a precaution. No passengers were reported to be injured in the incident. Passengers from both flights were deplaned onto the taxiway and transported back to Terminal C via bus.
Delta Air Lines issued a statement acknowledging the collision, describing it as a “low-speed collision” and emphasizing their commitment to customer care and safety. The airline stated that affected passengers would be provided with hotel accommodations and rebooked onto new flights. The FAA has launched an investigation into the cause of the incident, and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recovered flight recorders from both planes for analysis.
Despite the collision, airport operations at LaGuardia were not significantly impacted. The NTSB confirmed that the damage included the right wing of one aircraft and the nose and windscreen of the other. The incident highlights the ongoing efforts by the FAA to enhance ground safety at major airports through advanced radar systems, though the specific role of such systems in this event is part of the ongoing investigation.
