Politics1 min read

Two planes collide on taxiway at Miami airport one day after national grounding

By · Via The Guardian Business · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The Federal Aviation Administration opened a formal inquiry after a gate-bound Copa Airlines Boeing 737 struck the nose of an outbound United Parcel Service cargo plane at Miami International Airport. Air traffic controllers had directed the UPS crew to yield before the impact occurred around 9 p.m. local time. The incident came directly after a separate four-hour national ground stop linked to telecommunications maintenance errors had already caused thousands of flight cancellations nationwide.

Key points

  • The collision resulted in two minor injuries that required medical treatment alongside an…: The collision resulted in two minor injuries that required medical treatment alongside an ongoing federal safety investigation.
  • Both involved carriers confirmed they are cooperating with aviation authorities to determ…: Both involved carriers confirmed they are cooperating with aviation authorities to determine the root cause of the taxiway impact.
  • The ground incident intensified scrutiny on U.S. aviation systems immediately after a nat…: The ground incident intensified scrutiny on U.S. aviation systems immediately after a nationwide telecommunications failure grounded thousands of flights.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Two planes collided with one another on a taxiway at Miami’s international airport on Saturday night – a day after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an hours-long nationwide ground stop due to communication issues affecting multiple air traffic control centers.

In a statement, the Trump administration-led FAA said the wingtip of a Copa Airlines Boeing 737 struck the nose of a United Parcel Service Boeing 767 “while the airplanes were taxiing at Miami International Airport”.

Two people reportedly had minor injuries in the collision and subsequently received medical treatment.

The FAA said it was investigating the matter, which was reported at about 9pm local time.

According to the FAA, air traffic controllers had told the UPS crew to give way to the Copa flight before the collision. “The Copa flight was taxiing to the gate and the UPS flight was taxiing for departure to Bogotá, Colombia,” the FAA said.

A passenger on the Copa flight, Cesar Ferreira, spoke to CNN about how screams from those around him clued him in to the emergency.

“We were taxiing after landing at…

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