The Federal Aviation Administration is monitoring a minor collision involving two commercial jets at Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday, Oct. 6.
According to a statement from the FAA, a Tokyo-bound Delta Air Lines flight was getting ready to take off when the left wing tip of the Airbus A350-900 clipped another jet.
That other jet was described as Air Canada Flight 785, a Boeing 777-200LR that was at LAX after flying from Toronto earlier in the morning.
It happened around 10:30 a.m., officials said.
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“The Air Canada flight was being towed when it stopped short of its gate,” the FAA statement reads. The Air Canada jet was clipped on its “horizontal stabilizer,” which helps control the aircraft’s pitch, or nose-up and nose-down movement.
Details about the collision are under investigation, but it was described by multiple news outlets as “minor.”
According to FlightAware.com, the Delta flight eventually took off for Tokyo only a few minutes behind schedule. The Air Canada flight had no additional travel plans on Tuesday, but was expected to return to Toronto Wednesday morning.
FAA will investigate Los Angeles collision
Any time a collision occurs, no matter how minor, the FAA investigates it seriously to determine who or what is at fault, and if any intervention is necessary. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) also investigates aircraft collisions, but only if they meet specific criteria and are deemed to be a serious accident.
Seeing as how both aircraft suffered minor or negligible damage, it’s unlikely that the NTSB will become involved.
The FAA directed all additional inquiries to the respective airlines involved.
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Delta released a statement to media Tuesday morning that said: “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.”
The FAA also released statements regarding two other minor aviation incidents Tuesday morning, including an American Airlines flight that made an unplanned landing at JFK International Airport in New York City due to “inadequate number of operational lavatories.” That plane had departed from Madrid, Spain, earlier in the day and was headed to Dallas.
Another minor incident involved a single-engine aircraft that was forced to land with its landing gear up at Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina. The pilot was the only person on board at the time of the emergency landing.
The FAA says it is investigating the North Carolina incident.
For the latest statements on aircraft accidents and incidents, click here.
Read the full statement from the FAA regarding Tuesday’s collision in Los Angeles
Delta Air Lines Flight 7 was taxiing for departure when its left wingtip clipped the horizontal stabilizer of Air Canada Flight 785 at Los Angeles International Airport. The Air Canada flight was being towed when it stopped short of its gate. The FAA is investigating the event that occurred around 10:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday, Oct. 6. Contact the airlines for more information.
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