Planes collide while taxiing at Atlanta airport, loud bangs heard

Two planes collided with each other near the runway of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Tuesday, causing loud bangs to be heard by those on board.

Scripps News Tampa reporter Jason Adams was on board a Delta flight bound for Lafayette, Louisiana, when he heard the jarring sound of metal scraping against the plane. He did not see anyone injured during Tuesday's incident.

"We were taxiing out, all was normal," he said. "The flight attendants did their safety measures, their safety precautions, they sat down, and I put my AirPods on, I was listening to music, and then all of a sudden, like out of nowhere, just bang!"

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He said the sound of scrapping lasted for 10-15 seconds.

"We're all just sitting there, and then one of the flight attendants goes from the front of the plane to the back of the plane, like grabbing your chest, breathing heavy, like she was terrified too," Adams said. "People were screaming, nobody knew what was going on, and then we all just sat there and we were like, we're okay, everybody's okay."

Adams said the plane he was on had the tail completely removed from the plane. He said the other plane had less damage.

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He added that emergency crews checked on passengers as they came down the stairs.

"I think everybody was just grateful that it could stay on just as it was. It didn't hit the middle of the plane," he said.

Delta Air Lines released a statement following the incident.

"At approximately 10:07 a.m., the wing of an Airbus A350 taxiing out as DL295 from Atlanta to Tokyo-Haneda made contact with the tail of an Endeavor Air CRJ-900, DL5526 to Lafayette, Louisiana, on an adjacent taxiway, resulting in damage to the tail of the regional jet and the wing of the A350," the airline said. "There have been no reported injuries at this time and customers are being transported back to the terminal where they will be reaccommodated on alternate flights. There were 221 customers on DL295 and 56 customers on DL5526. At this time, no additional operational adjustments are expected.

"Delta is cooperating with the NTSB and other authorities on this incident.”

Airport officials released a statement following the collision.

"At 10:07 a.m., two aircraft made contact at the intersection of taxiways E and H on the north airfield. No injuries are reported. Passengers from one aircraft are being bussed to concourse B; the other aircraft taxied on its own power to its gate. There is minimal impact to ops," the airport said.