US: Two regional jets collide on taxiway at LaGuardia airport, one injured

Washington, Oct 2 (IANS) One person was injured after two regional Delta jets carrying passengers collided on the taxiway at LaGuardia Airport in New York on Wednesday night (local time), local media reported, citing authorities.

According to the CBS News, Delta Air Lines, in a statement, said that a "low-speed collision" occurred between Endeavor Air Flight 5047, arriving from Charlotte, North Carolina, and Endeavor Flight 5155, which was scheduled to depart for Roanoke, Virginia.

"Endeavor is a Delta subsidiary. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said in its own statement that the crash occurred just before 10 p.m. Eastern Time. According to the airline, preliminary information indicates that the wing of Flight 5155 made contact with the fuselage of Flight 5047. The airline said that a flight attendant sustained a minor injury and was treated by EMTs at the scene. The injured person was taken to a hospital, the Port Authority said," the report mentioned.

Flight 5047 had arrived from North Carolina's Charlotte when the wing of flight 5155, preparing to take off for Virginia's Roanoke collided with the nose of their aircraft, the CNN reported. "We have two CRJs on (taxiway) M that collided," the pilot of flight 5047 radioed the ground controller in audio recorded by the website LiveATC.net. "Their right wing clipped our nose and the cockpit wind screens," the report stated.

The pilot of flight 5155 said that one flight attendant injured her knee in the collision, as per the air traffic control audio. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey which operates the airport reported that one person was taken to the hospital.

The flight from Charlotte was carrying 57 passengers while the aircraft heading to Roanoke had 28 passengers, according to Delta. The passengers were taken to the terminal by bus and were being provided hotel rooms and meal, the CNN reported.

In a statement, the airline said, "Delta will work with all relevant authorities to review what occurred as safety of our customers and people comes before all else. We apologize to our customers for the experience."

--IANS

akl/as