Delta A350 pilots focused on left wing when right wingtip sheared CRJ’s tail

Investigators note regional jet was parked too far from holding point at time of Atlanta collision.
Pilots of a taxiing Delta Air Lines Airbus A350-900 had been busy ensuring left-hand wingtip clearance when the jet’s right wing sheared the vertical fin off a regional jet.

The A350 was heading for Atlanta Hartsfield’s runway 8R on 10 September 2024 because the usual runway 9L was closed.

While manoeuvring on the ground the crew was instructed to follow an Endeavor Air MHIRJ CRJ900 proceeding along taxiway E – running parallel to the adjacent runway – and switch to the tower frequency.

The first officer informed the tower that the aircraft would need to stop to co-ordinate with maintenance over a navigation alert message, so the tower told the crew to continue along E and hold short of taxiway V.

Taxiway E intersects with taxiways V and H near the threshold of runway 8R.

The CRJ900 parked at this intersection, having turned towards taxiway H to hold short of the runway. But although the CRJ’s captain told the inquiry that the regional jet was waiting at the hold-short line, investigators found it was actually parked 56ft before it.

Given that the A350’s right wingtip extended to 106ft from the taxiway E centreline, this left the CRJ’s empennage exposed with insufficient space for the A350 to pass.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the A350 captain testified that he was focused on ensuring the left wingtip was not impinging on traffic emerging from taxiway V as they approached the intersection.

“I became so worried about my left wingtip, I forgot about the right wingtip,” he told the inquiry.

Investigators noted that observing the A350 wingtips from the pilots’ seats was difficult, and clearance from a nearby aircraft would be hard to assess.

At the time of the collision the first officer had been looking at the aircraft’s navigation display and his electronic flightbag to identify taxiway V.

The A350 was taxiing at about 12kt and the impact left the CRJ’s fin and horizontal stabiliser attached only by flight-control cables, wiring and a small section of skin.

Damage to the A350’s right wing extended from the end of the outboard slat to the winglet.

No-one on board either aircraft was seriously injured. The Endeavor CRJ had been operating a service on behalf of Delta Air Lines.

Delta subsequently published an internal reminder to crews about maintaining vigilance during ground operations, highlighting the need to identify new threats as they appear.

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