ABC Action News crew on board a flight involved in an incident on the runway in Atlanta

Some members of our ABC Action News team were aboard a Delta flight to Louisiana when the wingtip struck the tail of another plane.

The incident involved an Airbus 350 and an Endeavor Bombardier CRJ900. Both were operating at Atlanta-Hartsfield International Airport when they collided. The Federal Aviation Administration said the collision occurred at the intersection of two runways.

Airplane incident in Atlanta

The FAA said the tail of the smaller Endeavor Bombardier CRJ900 was torn off in the collision.

ABC Action News meteorologist Jason Adams and other crew members were aboard the Endeavor Bombardier at the time of the incident. They were en route to Lafayette, Louisiana, to help our sister station KATC cover the hurricane.

“The next thing we heard was a loud bang of metal, like a bang, almost like a tire blowing,” Adams said. “After about 15 seconds it was over and we were all just sitting there with people screaming. It was literally so jarring that people were screaming like we were involved in a major accident or something.”

The larger Delta jet, the Airbus 350, was preparing for a flight to Japan when the collision occurred. Air traffic control recordings showed that even in the cockpit there was confusion about what had gone wrong.

Delta issued a statement late Tuesday morning regarding the incident at Atlanta-Hartsfield International.

For Captain Shem Malquist, Tuesday's incident is a reminder that plane crashes and ground collisions are a reality. Malmquist, a current Boeing 777 pilot, said the larger planes pose greater challenges.

“What people don't know is that from the flight deck, I can't even see my wingtips,” said Captain Malmquist. “Even if I press my head against the glass, I can't see the wingtips. They're much further back. So when you release something, that's not all you know, not as obvious.”

Such ground collisions are nothing new. According to the NTSB, there were 281 non-fatal accidents on airport taxiways between 2012 and 2021. According to the FAA, runway collisions are even more common, with more than 1,400 since October 2023.

As for Tuesday's incident, the regional jet's passengers were eventually bused back to the terminal while the A350 taxied back to the gate with the passengers on board. Delta said it was working to get all passengers on new flights to their destinations.

The FAA will lead the investigation into Tuesday's collision.