Delta A350 Hits Air Canada Boeing 777 While Taxiing for Departure at Lax

Los Angeles: Federal authorities are investigating a ground collision at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) after a Delta Air Lines jet clipped the tail of an Air Canada aircraft on a taxiway on Tuesday morning, officials confirmed. No one was injured among passengers, flight crews, or ground personnel.

The incident occurred at about 10:30 a.m. local time, when Delta Air Lines Flight 7, an Airbus A350 carrying 275 passengers and 15 crew members bound for Tokyo, was taxiing toward the runway for departure.

According to preliminary statements from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Delta jet's left wingtip struck the horizontal stabiliser located on the tail section of Air Canada Flight 785.

The Air Canada Boeing 777, which had arrived earlier from Toronto, was being towed to its arrival gate and had stopped short on the active taxiway when the contact took place. Audio recordings from air traffic control channels captured the moment of impact.

The Air Canada crew reported a noticeable "shudder" across the airframe; at the same time, the Delta pilot immediately notified controllers that they were coming to a stop due to damage sustained on their left wingtip.

Images shared after the collision showed visible structural damage to the jet's tail assembly, with portions of the stabiliser bent and torn from the impact.

Following the incident, passengers aboard the Tokyo-bound Delta flight disembarked safely and were transferred to alternative flights to complete their journeys.

"Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people, and we apologise to our customers for the experience and delay in their travels," Delta Air Lines said in an official statement.

Air Canada confirmed it immediately removed it from service to undergo comprehensive structural safety inspections and repairs. Delta's technical maintenance team is performing a similar evaluation on the damaged Airbus A350.

Los Angeles World Airports, the operator of LAX, confirmed that primary flight schedules and overall airfield operations saw minimal disruption, with arriving and departing flights continuing as normal.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have launched joint investigations to determine what led to the taxiway clearance collision.