Miami
Two planes collided Saturday evening on the tarmac at Miami International Airport, just a day after a nationwide flight caused widespread cancellations and travel chaos.
“The wingtip of a Copa Airlines Boeing 737 struck the nose of a UPS Boeing 767 while the planes were taxiing,” the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Two people were injured in the collision, which occurred around 9:15 p.m., Greg Chin, director of communications for the airport, told CNN.
“We were taxiing after landing at a normal speed when, all of a sudden, I heard the noise around me get louder, followed by a collective scream and then the impact of another plane hitting ours,” Copa passenger Cesar Ferreira told CNN.
“Inside the cabin, we felt the plane suddenly move to the side. At first, some passengers started to panic, but the Copa crew reacted quickly, forcing everyone to stay seated,” Ferreira said.
Air traffic controllers asked the UPS crew to give way to the Copa flight, the FAA said. The agency is investigating the collision.
UPS said it was “committed to working with authorities to determine what happened” and noted its crew was safe.
Copa Airlines said in a statement that it “regrets the disruption this incident may cause to our passengers. The safety of our passengers and crew is our top priority, and we will cooperate with authorities as they investigate.”
The incident comes as airports across the country work to resume normal flight operations following an FAA ground shutdown Friday that left some passengers sleeping on airport terminal floors while waiting for their flights to be changed.
“Someone hit us,” the pilot of the Copa Airlines flight said into the air traffic control audio system, as the controller asked the crew of the UPS plane if they had made contact.
“Yeah, we went too far, and then he cut us off with the wing,” the UPS pilot responded in the audio.
“It seems we are missing the tip of the left wing,” the Copa driver later said.
Ferreira said that after about 10 minutes, the captain announced that there was no imminent danger and that a tugboat would be brought in to move the plane.
The 166 passengers and six crew members have since disembarked and the plane has been returned to the terminal, the airline said in its statement.
A photo of the UPS plane shows its crumpled nose, with a gaping hole in the panels.
The Copa Airlines flight had just landed in Miami from Panama City, Panama, and a UPS flight was preparing to take off for Bogotá, Colombia, at the time of the incident.
The two people’s injuries were minor and both were treated at the scene by firefighters and paramedics, Chin said.
