Federal aviation officials are investigating after a Delta Air Lines jet departing Los Angeles International Airport clipped an Air Canada plane on a taxiway Tuesday morning. No one was hurt.
What happened
According to preliminary information from the Federal Aviation Administration, Delta Flight 7 was taxiing for departure around 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 6 when its left wingtip struck the horizontal stabilizer, part of the tail, of Air Canada Flight 785. The Air Canada plane was being towed after arriving and had stopped short of its gate, the FAA said.
The Delta aircraft was an Airbus A350 headed to Tokyo's Haneda airport. Delta told TheTravel that 275 customers and 15 crew members were on board. The Air Canada jet, a Boeing 777, had flown in from Toronto; FlightAware data cited by TheTravel showed it landed at 10:20 a.m. and was delayed more than 90 minutes reaching its gate after the incident.
A passenger told ABC News the Delta plane had just pushed back and was heading toward the runway when the Air Canada aircraft began moving into its path, Aerospace Global News reported. The FAA has not assigned responsibility or said what led to the contact, and it noted its information is preliminary.
Airport and airline response
Los Angeles World Airports, which runs LAX, stressed that the collision happened on a taxiway, not a runway, and said flights kept operating normally, NBC Los Angeles reported.
"Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people, and we apologize to our customers for the experience and delay in their travels," Delta said in a statement. Air Canada confirmed the contact happened during towing and said it was taking its plane out of service for inspection and repairs, according to TheTravel.
It is not the first ground collision this year involving a Delta-operated aircraft, TheTravel noted; like this one, the earlier incident happened before departure.