A Delta jet clipped a smaller plane on a taxiway at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Tuesday morning, tearing the tail off the smaller plane, officials said.
Delta Air Lines Flight 295, which was en route to Tokyo, was taxiing for takeoff when its wingtip hit the tail of Endeavor Air Flight 5526, which was headed to Louisiana, knocking the Endeavor plane’s tail off, according to the Federal Aviation Administration and Delta.
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Ooof… That looks EXpensive and not just for the CRJ. The larger plane (it looks like an A350, but not sure) is going to need its wing structure and wing box all thoroughly inspected. Outside of the engines, those are the two most expensive structures on an airplane. Not saying that it is going to be a write off for either plane, but it is a possibility. I’m curious if the bending moment of that impact was outside what the larger plane’s wing box was designed for. That force had to be huge, given the length of the wings on the large plane.
I look forward to seeing the analysis from some of the better aviation Youtubers on this one.