It’s the kind of sound you never want to hear on a plane. A metallic crunch followed by a sudden, violent jolt. On September 10, 2024, at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, that’s exactly what passengers on two different Delta jets experienced.
One was a massive Airbus A350, a widebody beast meant for the long haul to Tokyo. The other was a much smaller CRJ-900 regional jet, operated by Endeavor Air, just waiting its turn to head to Lafayette, Louisiana.
The big plane basically "beheaded" the little one.
When the Delta A350 hits CRJ regional jets like this, the imagery is usually enough to go viral instantly. And it did. Photos showing the CRJ’s vertical stabilizer—its tail—laying sideways on the concrete like a discarded toy were all over social media within minutes. It looked like a total loss. Honestly, looking at the wreckage, most people assumed that regional jet was headed straight for the scrapyard.
But aviation is rarely that simple.
The NTSB Preliminary Report: 56 Feet of Trouble
Investigators don't care about viral photos. They care about data. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released a preliminary report that paints a much more nuanced picture of why these two planes met at an intersection that should have been safe.
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Ground speed for the A350 at the moment of impact was about 12 knots. That’s roughly 14 miles per hour. It doesn't sound fast until you realize the A350-941 (registration N503DN) weighs hundreds of thousands of pounds. When that much mass moves, even slowly, it carries incredible energy. Its right wingtip sliced through the CRJ-900's tail like a hot knife through butter.
One flight attendant on the CRJ sustained a minor injury. Miraculously, that was it. No one else among the 221 passengers on the Tokyo flight or the 56 on the Louisiana flight was hurt.
The report highlights a few weird factors. For starters, the CRJ (registration N302PQ) was stopped about 56 feet short of the actual "hold short" line. The pilot was waiting for instructions from the tower. Meanwhile, the A350 crew was dealing with their own distractions. They had a navigation message popping up on their screens and were trying to coordinate with maintenance while taxiing.
The captain of the A350 told investigators he was looking straight ahead and to the left. He was worried about his left wingtip hitting traffic coming off a different taxiway. He basically lost track of where his right wing was.
Why didn't the A350 crew see it coming?
You’d think with four people in the cockpit—a captain, a first officer, and two relief pilots for the long flight to Japan—someone would have noticed. But the A350 is a massive plane. The wingtips are way out there, and the cockpit geometry makes it surprisingly hard to judge exactly where your extremities are during a tight turn or when passing another aircraft.
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The CRJ’s position, being 56 feet back from the line, placed it right in the "sweep" zone of the A350's wing as it navigated the intersection of taxiways E and H.
- Massive disparity: The A350 is nearly ten times the weight of the CRJ.
- The Rotation: The impact was so strong it actually rotated the CRJ by about 9 degrees on the ground.
- The G-Force: Flight recorders showed the CRJ felt a lateral acceleration of about 0.55 G. That’s a significant "thump" for people sitting inside.
Can you actually fix a plane after the tail gets ripped off?
Most people thought the CRJ was a write-off. Seriously, how do you fix a plane that’s had its tail section "amputated"?
Delta TechOps, however, had other plans. In a move that surprised a lot of industry watchers, they decided to rebuild N302PQ. This wasn't just a patch job. It was a massive structural undertaking that took over a year.
They had to procure an entirely new tail assembly. They had to strip back the fuselage to where the metal was still "true" and not warped by the impact. Every hydraulic line, every sensor, and every flight control cable running to the back of the plane had to be re-run and tested.
By late 2025, the "zombie" CRJ was actually spotted back in the air. It underwent rigorous flight testing, including cabin pressure checks (which are vital since the tail section is part of the pressurized vessel) and high-stress maneuvers. It’s now back in service, flying regional routes across the Southeast.
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The A350 didn't have it easy either. While its damage was labeled "minor," it wasn't just a scratch. The wingtip of an A350 is made of complex composites. You can’t just hammer that out. Airbus engineers had to be flown in to design a specific repair because this was one of the first times an A350 wing had been damaged in quite this way.
Lessons Learned from the Delta A350 hits CRJ Collision
This incident changed how some pilots look at "standard" taxiing. It’s a reminder that the world’s busiest airport, ATL, has zero margin for error.
- Don’t stop short: If you’re a pilot, pull up to the line unless there’s a safety reason not to. Those extra 56 feet of "cushion" the CRJ thought they had actually put them in the line of fire.
- Clear the wings: The "see and avoid" rule applies on the ground just as much as in the air. If there’s any doubt about clearance, you stop the plane. Period.
- Manage distractions: The A350 crew was busy with a maintenance message. That’s important, but not at the expense of looking out the window during a turn.
What’s wild is that the CRJ is now arguably one of the most thoroughly inspected planes in Delta’s fleet. After a year of being poked, prodded, and rebuilt by the best engineers in the business, it’s probably "newer" than most of its peers.
Next time you're taxiing in Atlanta, take a look out the window. If you see a big widebody passing a small regional jet, you'll know exactly why the pilots are being so incredibly cautious. They've seen the photos. They know what happens when a wingtip becomes an axe.
If you’re interested in how aviation safety evolves, keep an eye on the final NTSB report. It’ll likely lead to new recommendations for taxiway lighting or cockpit procedures during "busy" ground phases. For now, the most important takeaway is simple: in aviation, even a "minor" mistake on the ground can lead to a very expensive, and very public, disaster.
Actionable Insights for Travelers:
- Keep your seatbelt fastened: Even while taxiing. This incident proves that collisions can happen on the ground without warning.
- Don't panic at the sight of "repaired" planes: Aircraft like the N302PQ undergo more testing after a rebuild than they do when they first come off the assembly line.
- Watch for "Heavy" traffic: If you're on a regional jet, those A350s and 777s are much bigger than they look from the terminal window. Clearances are often measured in mere feet.