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Miami airport crash: Why UPS jet hit Copa plane

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The Federal Aviation Administration is actively reviewing why the outbound UPS freighter advanced past its designated hold point and clipped the wing of the arriving Copa Airlines Boeing 737. Paramedics evaluated two passengers aboard the commercial flight for minor injuries, though neither required hospitalization, and the plane taxied to its gate without further incident. Airport authorities rerouted ground movements around the impacted intersection to prevent flight cancellations or major terminal delays. The incident took place at a major international hub that processed nearly 3.5 million tonnes of freight shipments in 2025.

Key points

  • The UPS pilot acknowledged to controllers that their aircraft had rolled too far into the…: The UPS pilot acknowledged to controllers that their aircraft had rolled too far into the taxiway intersection.
  • Normal flight operations at Miami International Airport continued without interruption be…: Normal flight operations at Miami International Airport continued without interruption because ground traffic was diverted to adjacent taxiways.
  • Federal regulators are actively investigating the sequence of events that led to the grou…: Federal regulators are actively investigating the sequence of events that led to the ground collision between the two planes.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

The pilot of a Copa Airlines flight arriving from Panama City declared on flight radio, “Somebody hit us”, moments after its wing clipped the nose of a Bogota, Colombia-bound UPS Flight 358 at the intersection of two taxiways around 9:15 p.m.

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What did ATC tell the UPS cargo plane before the collision?

“UPS 358, did you hit that aircraft?” the controller asked the pilot of the cargo plane, according to audio from air traffic control (ATC). Controllers had told the UPS crew, bound for Bogota, to give way to the Copa Boeing 737 as it taxied to its gate, the FAA said.A representative image of a UPS cargo plane and a commercial passenger aircraft at an airport at Miami International Airport. (Photo credit: iStock/Pavliha)

“We went too far and then he clipped us with the wing,” the UPS pilot said in response to a question by the controller about whether it had hit Copa Flight 427.

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