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.
A plane sits damaged at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport after colliding with another plane on a taxiway, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (WSB via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy" Combs was expected to appear before a federal judge in New York on Tuesday after his indictment on undisclosed criminal charges.
The music mogul was arrested late Monday in Manhattan, roughly six months after federal authorities conducting a sex trafficking investigation raided his luxurious homes in Los Angeles and Miami.
The indictment detailing the charges was expected to be unsealed Tuesday morning, according to U.S. Attorney Damian Williams.
Over the past year, Combs has been sued by people who say he subjected them to physical or sexual abuse. He has denied many of those allegations and his lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, called the new indictment an “unjust prosecution.”
“He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal,” Agnifilo said in a statement late Monday.
Combs, 58, was recognized as one of the most influential figures in hip-hop before a flood of allegations that emerged over the past year turned him into an industry pariah.
In November, his former girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, filed a lawsuit saying he had beaten and raped her for years. She accused Combs of coercing her, and others, into unwanted sex in drug-fueled settings.
The suit was settled in one day but months later CNN aired hotel security footage showing Combs punching and kicking Cassie and throwing her on a floor. After the video aired, Combs apologized, saying, “I was disgusted when I did it.”
Combs and his attorneys, however, denied similar allegations made by others in a string of lawsuits.
Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer for Cassie, said in a statement Tuesday that “neither Ms. Ventura nor I have any comment.”
“We appreciate your understanding and if that changes, we will certainly let you know,” he added.
A woman said Combs raped her two decades ago when she was 17. A music producer sued, saying Combs forced him to have sex with prostitutes. Another woman, April Lampros, said Combs subjected her to “terrifying sexual encounters,” starting when she was a college student in 1994.
The AP does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie and Lampros did.
Combs, the founder of Bad Boy Records, has gotten out of legal trouble before.
In 2001, he was acquitted of charges related to a Manhattan nightclub shooting two years earlier that injured three people. His then-protege, Shyne, was convicted of assault and other charges and served about eight years in prison.
Associated Press writer Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
FILE - Host Sean "Diddy" Combs presents the revolt black excellence award at the Billboard Music Awards, May 15, 2022, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
Sean 'Diddy' Combs is expected in court after New York indictment
Sean 'Diddy' Combs is expected in court after New York indictment
FILE - Sean "Diddy" Combs arrives at the LA Premiere of "The Four: Battle For Stardom" at the CBS Radford Studio Center on May 30, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)
