Two Delta Airlines passenger planes collided at LaGuardia Airport in New York City on Wednesday night in a horror accident that ripped the wing off one jet.
The CRJ-900 regional jets – operated by Delta subsidiary Endeavor Air – were taxiing at low speed when they suddenly clipped each other about 9:56 pm.
Miraculously, only a flight attendant on board was injured in the frightening collision despite terrifying footage that showed one plane’s wing broken off after the crash.
All 85 passengers across both aircraft were deemed safe and forced to deplane and wait until they could be transferred to new flights.
The travelers have been offered hotel rooms and meals. They will be given new flight options to rebook within hours, the airline said.
The collision marks the latest mishap for the aviation industry, which has faced mounting concerns amid widespread job cuts to the Federal Aviation Administration under the Trump administration.
A passenger on board at the Endeavor flight at LaGuardia described the horror moment his plane was ‘absolutely smashed’ by the other jet shortly after landing in New York on a trip from Charlotte.
‘We were taxiing to our runway and we got absolutely smashed by another Delta flight… I don’t know if we hit them or they hit us but it was super jarring,’ the CBS News producer said.
‘Everyone shot forward in their seats, it was a little chaotic, we were shocked at what happened.’
One plane involved in the crash, Endeavor Air flight 5155, was departing for Roanoke, Virginia. It collided with the fuselage of Endeavor Air flight 5047, the plane which had just arrived in from Charlotte.
‘Delta will work with all relevant authorities to review what occurred as the safety of our customers and people comes before all else,’ an airline spokesperson said. ‘We apologize to our customers for the experience.’
A LaGuardia Airport spokesperson told Daily Mail the injured flight attendant ‘suffered non-life threatening injuries and was transported to hospital as a precautionary measure.’
Pictures taken in the aftermath of the scary collision show significant damage on the nose of one of the planes.
Crew members and passengers were seen standing on the tarmac, along with police, after the frightening incident occurred.
‘Passengers were deplaned on the taxiway and transferred via buses back to Terminal C,’ the airport spokesperson said.
‘Passengers on the departing planes will be rebooked to another flight.’
The airport was able to operate normally after the minor crash.
Whistleblowers at the Federal Aviation Administration have been sounding the alarm for months over the potential ramifications of job cuts within the department.
There have been mounting concerns about the risk of accidents at airports across the nation as a result of federal cutbacks.
‘Air traffic controllers cannot do their work without us,’ an aeronautical data specialist impacted by the cuts told Politico back in February.
‘To put it frankly, without our team… pilots would quite literally be flying blind,’ they added.
The employee was cited as an anonymous source so they could speak freely about the terminations.
Earlier this year, a collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport killed 67 people.
In addition to the fatal crash in Washington DC on January 29, a small plane carrying 10 people crashed in Alaska on February 6, and two private jets collided at the Scottsdale Airport on February 10, killing one individual and injuring four.
An FAA department tasked with mapping deadly aviation obstacles such as skyscrapers and power lines was also slashed to a handful of staff under drastic DOGE cuts, Daily Mail revealed this year.
Insiders fear there are now so few cartographers logging potential hazards that planes could slam into buildings or towers as they navigate giant cityscapes like New York or Chicago.
A team of 20 or so aeronautical information specialists were previously responsible for maintaining a nationwide database listing the height and location of any man-made structure that could impact safety.
But under President Donald Trump’s sweeping purge of federal workers, the Obstacle Data Team has dwindled to a mere eight members, according to a whistleblower within the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Those who remain warn that resources are stretched so thin that errors could creep into the material they provide for pilots, airlines and air traffic controllers and cause a crash.
‘A building could be mapped in the wrong place or the wrong height,’ the insider said.
‘It’s not far-fetched. We’re talking about the destruction of lives and airplanes.’
