Two Delta Jets Smash into Each Other, Ripping Off Wing at LaGuardia Airport

LaGuardia Airport descended into chaos Wednesday night after two Delta Connection jets collided on the taxiway — leaving one plane’s nose crumpled and another’s wing ripped apart.

The crash happened just before 10 p.m., when a flight bound for Roanoke, Virginia, clipped a jet arriving from Charlotte, North Carolina, according to Delta officials. One carried 32 passengers. The other had 61 on board.

“It was a nightmare sound. Their right wing clipped our nose and the cockpit. We’ve got damage to the windshield and… some of our screens in here,” a pilot reported in air traffic control audio obtained by media outlets.

My @CBSNews colleague Joey Annunziato is on DL5047. He describes what happened as it was taxing to the gate and was clipped by another delta regional jet. pic.twitter.com/uBzgzoILzi

— Kris Van Cleave (@krisvancleave) October 2, 2025

Passengers described the moment of impact in chilling detail.

“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,” said CBS News producer Joey Annunziato, who was sitting on the Charlotte flight. “Everyone shot forward in their seats and it was chaotic. We were just shocked at what happened.”

Another traveler, William Lusk, told ABC News that his plane had just landed when it suddenly “stopped, jerked, and jumped to the right.” He recalled the eerie silence before the captain made an announcement no passenger wants to hear: “Hey, we’ve been in a crash, everyone remain calm.”

Photos posted online showed the twisted nose of one aircraft and the shattered windshield in the cockpit. A huge piece of another jet’s wing lay mangled on the tarmac.

Incredibly, no passengers were injured. But the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey confirmed a flight attendant suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to the hospital.

Emergency crews rushed across the runway with flashing lights as both damaged planes sat immobilized on the taxiway. Travelers were later rebooked onto new flights.

Delta confirmed the jets — operated by its regional partner Endeavor Air — were involved in what it called a “low-speed collision.” The airline apologized to passengers and said it is working with federal investigators.

The accident comes at a moment of heightened concern for U.S. air safety. Just hours earlier, the federal government had entered a shutdown — raising fears that air traffic controllers, forced to work without pay, could be stretched thin.

Airlines had already warned of possible slowdowns. Now, the LaGuardia mishap is raising questions about whether staffing or oversight played a role. The FAA has not commented.

Aviation experts note that “ground collisions” are rare but dangerous. In 1990, a similar incident at Detroit Metro Airport killed eight people after a Northwest Airlines jet clipped another during heavy snow.

Wednesday night’s collision didn’t result in fatalities — but passengers say the terror in the cabin was real.

“It felt like the whole plane had been slammed by a truck,” Annunziato recalled. “You don’t expect two planes from the same airline to crash into each other.”

Delta has vowed to fully cooperate with the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.

For now, the battered jets remain a stark reminder of how quickly an ordinary taxi down the runway can turn into a night of chaos.