Two Delta planes collide on an Atlanta taxiway, knocking the tail off one

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Two Delta planes collide on an Atlanta taxiway, knocking the tail off one

2024-09-11 04:55 Last Updated At：05:00

ATLANTA (AP) — Two Delta Air Lines planes collided on a taxiway at Atlanta's airport Tuesday morning, with a larger plane knocking over the tail of a smaller regional jet.

No injuries were reported and Delta said passengers were rebooked on other flights that departed Tuesday afternoon.

Atlanta-based Delta said the wing of a Delta Airbus A350 jet that was bound for Tokyo hit the tail of a smaller Bombardier CRJ-900 that was on an adjacent taxiway. The regional jet, operated by Delta subsidiary Endeavor Air, was preparing to take off for Lafayette, Louisiana.

“You know I just noticed that the tail on the RJ is missing,” an air traffic controller said, according to audio archives maintained by LiveATC.net. “So Endeavor 5526, hold your position, and do you require any immediate assistance?”

“No immediate assistance,” a pilot answers back. “We'll need a tow, though.”

Jason Adams, a meteorologist for WFTS-TV in Tampa, Florida, who is traveling to Louisiana to cover Tropical Storm Francine, recounted the moment of impact on social platform X.

“Well that was terrifying,” Adams wrote. “Taxiing out for the flight from Atlanta to Louisiana and another plane appears to have clipped the back of our plane. Very jarring, metal scraping sounds then loud bangs. We’re fine. No fire or smoke.”

Adams posted pictures of the tail of the smaller plane knocked on its side and laying on the taxiway.

Delta said the wing of the larger plane was also damaged.

“We apologize to our customers for the experience,” the airline said in a statement.

Officials at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport said passengers from one plane were bused back to the terminal, while the other plane returned to a gate under its own power. There were 221 passengers on the Airbus and 56 passengers on the regional jet.

Delta said it would cooperate with the National Transportation Safety Board and other authorities to investigate. The Federal Aviation Administration says it is also investigating.

Airport officials described disruptions to operations at the world's busiest airport as “minimal.” Delta said both planes would be moved to maintenance hangars.

Determination to rebuild after Florida hurricanes, and acceptance that more will come

2024-10-14 07:16 Last Updated At：07:20

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — When ankle-deep floodwaters from Hurricane Helene bubbled up through the floors of their home, Kat Robinson-Malone and her husband sent a late-night text message to their neighbors two doors down: “Hey, we're coming.”

The couple waded through the flooded street to the elevated front porch of Chris and Kara Sundar, whose home was built on higher ground, and handed over their 8-year-old daughter and a gas-powered generator.

The Sundars' lime-green house in southern Tampa also became a refuge for Brooke and Adam Carstensen, whose house next door to Robinson-Malone also flooded.

The three families met years earlier when their children became playmates, and the adults' friendships deepened during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. So when Helene and Hurricane Milton struck Florida within two weeks of each other, the neighbors closed ranks as one big extended family, cooking meals together, taking turns watching children and cleaning out their damaged homes.

And as Milton threatened a direct strike on Tampa last week, the Malones, the Sundars and the Carstensens decided to evacuate together. They drove more than 450 miles (725 kilometers) in a caravan to metro Atlanta — seven adults, six children, four dogs and teenage Max Carstensen's three pet rats.

“Everyone has, like, the chain saw or a tarp,” Robinson-Malone said Sunday. “But really the most important thing for us was the community we built. And that made all the difference for the hurricane rescue and the recovery. And now, hopefully, the restoration.”

Recovery efforts continued Sunday in storm-battered communities in central Florida, where President Joe Biden surveyed the devastation. Biden said he was thankful the damage from Milton was not as severe as officials had anticipated. But he said it was still a “cataclysmic” event for people caught in the path of the hurricane, which has been blamed for at least 11 deaths.

Nearly 800,000 homes and businesses in Florida remained without electricity Sunday, according to Poweroutage.us, down from more than 3 million after Milton made landfall late Wednesday as a Category 3 storm.

Fuel shortages also appeared to be easing as more gas stations opened, and lines at pumps in the Tampa area looked notably shorter. Gov. Ron DeSantis announced nine sites where people can get 10 gallons (38 liters) each for free.

While recovery efforts were gaining steam, a full rebound will take far longer.

DeSantis cautioned that debris removal could take up to a year, even as Florida shifts nearly 3,000 workers to the cleanup. He said Biden has approved 100% federal reimbursement for those efforts for 90 days.

“The (removal of) debris has to be 24/7 over this 90-day period,” DeSantis said while speaking next to a pile of furniture, lumber and other debris in Treasure Island, an island city near St. Petersburg that has been battered by both recent hurricanes. “That’s the way you get the job done.”

National Weather Service meteorologist Paul Close said rivers will keep rising for the next several days and result in flooding, mostly around Tampa Bay and northward. Those areas got the most rain, which came on top of a wet summer that included several hurricanes.

Meanwhile, residents unable to move back into their damaged homes were making other arrangements.

Robinson-Malone and her husband, Brian, bought a camper trailer that's parked in their driveway. They plan to live there while their gutted home is repaired and also improved to make it more resilient against hurricanes.

“These storms, they're just going to keep happening,” she said. “And we want to be prepared for it.”

The Carstensens plan to demolish what's left of their flooded, low-slung home, which was built in 1949, and replace it with a new house higher off the ground. For the time being they are staying with Brooke Carstensen's mother.

Chris Sundar said he's questioning his plan to remain in Tampa until his children have all graduated from high school a decade from now. His house remains the home base for the families' kids, ages 8 to 13. On the wall there is a list of chores for them all, from folding laundry to emptying wastebaskets. Brooke Carstensen, a teacher, has helped the children through an extended period without school.

The Sundars lost both their vehicles when Helene's storm surge flooded their garage, so they drove Robinson-Malone's car when they evacuated to Georgia. Arriving, exhausted after the 14-hour trek, Chris Sundar said to Robinson-Malone: “This is where community shines or it falls apart.”

“And that night we got together and we all hung out,” he said.

On Sunday back in Florida, they worked together to remove sticks and logs from a large oak limb that dangled over another neighbor's driveway. Brian Malone cut it up with a chain saw.

Tackling recovery as a group has made it seem far less overwhelming, Brooke Carstensen said. The families share tips and ideas on a group text thread. The Sundars threw an impromptu 13th birthday party for her son at their house between the storms. And she found solace and laughter from Brian Malone's advice about rebounding: “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”

It's why she wants to remain in Tampa, despite her concerns that Helene and Milton won't be the last storms.

“Why do we live here in a place that's trying to destroy us?” Brooke Carstensen said. “Well, it's all the people that we have here.”