Was the dramatic accident at Atlanta airport in which the tail of the Delta Air jet was cut off due to pilots stopping too close to the runway?

A preliminary accident report has found that a freak accident at Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport, in which the tail of a Delta Air Lines regional jet was clipped by the wing of a passing Airbus A350 wide-body jet, may have been caused by the airport’s pilots when a smaller plane stops too close to the runway.

On Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released its preliminary report on the Sept. 10 accident, and while investigators have not yet made any conclusions, it was revealed that the smaller plane came to rest about 56 feet short of the runway entrance.

As a result, the tail of the smaller CRJ regional jet was just within striking distance of the wing tip of the Airbus A350 flying past.

The accident occurred as both planes taxied for departure in the early morning rush at the world’s busiest airport.

The CRJ-900 regional jet was operated by Endeavor Air, which is part of Delta Air Lines and operates the airline’s regional flights under the Delta Connection brand. The decades-old jet taxied to takeoff around 10 a.m. for a flight between Atlanta and Lafayette.

Directly behind it, the Delta Air Lines Airbus A350 with 221 passengers on board taxied to take off as flight DL295 to Tokyo Haneda

The CRJ regional jet was on taxiway H just short of runway 8R while awaiting runway clearance and takeoff, while the Airbus A350 taxied on intersecting taxiway E. As the A350 passed the crossing point, its right wing collided with the regional jet’s tail fin.

At the time of the accident, the normal runway for wide-body aircraft was closed due to construction work, so the pilots had to depart from runway 8R. The pilots were initially instructed to follow the CRJ taxiing in front of them on taxiway E before the regional jet turned onto taxiway H.

Due to a possible maintenance issue, the A350 pilots were instructed to continue on taxiway E and pass the regional jet. The captain of the A350 told investigators that he was looking straight ahead and to the left to avoid a possible conflict with traffic on an adjacent taxiway.

What the captain of the A350 did not notice, however, was that the right wing tip was about to collide with the regional jet.

According to Endeavor Air, the nose of the regional jet was approximately 56 feet from the stop line of Runway 8R at the time of the accident. Investigators have not made any conclusions, but this information suggests that the pilots of the regional jet did not stop far enough toward the “hold short” line.

The collision caused the tail of the regional jet to be torn off, but there was only minor damage to the A350. Of the 296 passengers and crew members of both aircraft, only one flight attendant on the regional jet suffered a minor injury.

The investigation into the accident is ongoing.

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