The largest Air France jet produced clips a smaller regional Delta Connection plane at JFK Airport -- a collision that could have been fatal with a 900-passenger Airbus rolling over a smaller commuter plane, but miraculously ended with no injuries.
CNN correspondent Jim Bittermann, on-board the flight destined for Paris, France from JFK International Airport, described the bump experienced on the massive plane as akin to hitting a patch of rough pavement.
The Air France pilot stopped the airliner after the collision on the JFK tarmac.
The Airbus 380 used by Air France is considered the world's largest passenger jet and its introduction and first public civilian flight -- introduced only about one and one-half years ago -- raised the question of safety for such massive jets in the air. In this case the massive jet was on the ground, but both pilots and passengers were lucky.
The collision may have just a bump in the road for the massive plane -- but easily could've been catastrophe or even a fatal accident for the Delta Connection involved in the collision. Air France's Airbus 380 could crush most anything in its wake, designed to carry 900 passengers -- almost twice the passenger capacity of Boeing's 747.
The Airbus 380 had its maiden flight for Singapore Airlines flight to Sydney, Australia and was later introduced for civilian passenger use.
The Comair Flight 6293 from Delta had just recently landed from Boston, Massachusetts, at JFK airport -- and had been waiting to park -- when it was struck accidentally by the Air France jet. The planes were described as being at about a forty-five degree angle and were miraculously both slow enough that the clip was with wings rather than a direct collision.
The Delta Connection flight was a hop from Boston to JFK, mainly for international flyers going outbound to London from New York. Both the Air France and Delta Airlines planes suffered damage, with about one foot of the French airliner's wing damaged and described by the CNN passenger as hanging down. But no injuries.
The larger question: is a plane-to-plane collision considered the parking lot equivalent of a car accident, with insurance companies.