Delta A350 Strikes Air Canada Boeing 777 on LAX Taxiway

A Delta Air Lines Airbus A350-900 collided with an Air Canada Boeing 777 on a taxiway at Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday morning, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The collision occurred around 10:30 a.m. local time when Delta Flight 7, taxiing for departure to Tokyo, struck the horizontal stabilizer of Air Canada Flight 785 with its left wingtip. The Air Canada aircraft, which had just arrived from Toronto, was being towed to its gate at the time of the incident.

Delta Flight 7 was carrying 275 passengers and 15 crew members. Both airlines confirmed that no injuries were reported. Firefighters inspected both aircraft and found no safety issues. Audio from air traffic control captured the moment pilots became aware of the collision, with an Air Canada pilot asking ground control if everything was "looking ok" after feeling a shudder, and the Delta pilot reporting a potential issue with the wingtip.

Photos posted online showed minor damage to both aircraft. The Air Canada Boeing 777 will be taken out of service for inspection and repairs, as will the Delta Airbus A350. Delta issued a statement apologizing for the disruption: "Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people, and we apologize to our customers for the experience and delay in their travels."

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident. One eyewitness, Jayson Lowe, chief executive of Ascendant Financial Inc., was on another aircraft taxiing nearby and observed the collision, posting on social media that the Delta pilot "lost spatial awareness near an object roughly the size of a condominium building with wings." This incident follows a separate Air Canada collision at LaGuardia Airport in New York in March, when a regional Air Canada plane struck a Port Authority vehicle, resulting in two pilot deaths and dozens of injuries.