ATLANTA — Two Delta jets collided while taxiing for takeoff at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, leaving the tail section of one plane severely damaged. Thankfully, no one was hurt in the incident.
Jason Adams, a passenger on the smaller Delta Endeavor jet, described the terrifying moments when the collision occurred.
“All of a sudden, bam. Just got hit by something. Got completely jarred out of my seat,” Adams said.
Adams, a meteorologist heading to Louisiana for weather coverage, told Channel 2′s Tom Reagan that he heard a loud scraping sound as the wing of a larger Delta Airbus jet collided with his plane, tearing off the tail section.
[PHOTOS: 2 Delta planes collide on tarmac at Atlanta airport]
The collision caused passengers to be thrown from their seats, leading to a wave of panic.
“People were screaming. It was jarring, people being thrown out of their seats, and it was terrifying. People literally screaming, thinking like, what’s going on,” Adams said.
Regan learned that both planes were getting ready to take off when their paths crossed, resulting in the mid-morning collision.
ABC News aviation analyst John Nance explained that such collisions on the tarmac are highly unusual and that the cause would be determined by federal authorities and Delta’s investigation.
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“Usually, when we have airlines coming together, a tail clipped by a wing is a small amount of damage. This one was catastrophic for the smaller plane,” Nance said. “One of the planes involved was not on the right path. Whether that was because the markers were wrong, or someone was moving in the wrong direction, we don’t know why yet.”
Delta Airlines confirmed that the damaged planes have been moved to maintenance hangers and that passengers affected by the collision continued their travels on other aircraft.
Delta is cooperating with the National Transportation Safety Board and other authorities in the ongoing investigation.
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