Two Delta Planes Collide Chicago O'Hare 7 Flights in Runway Collisions Accidents

by hearit

Seriously, Delta? Two more Delta Airlines planes collide on the runway at Chicago's O'Hare Airport July 29, 2011--in yet another airplane collision that seems to mark a trend for the company that's now had seven (7) planes in tarmac accidents or 'incidents' in just 4 months. This part's good: Delta's dubbing the most recent Illinois collision a "taxiway incursion".
 
For Delta Airlines, three times is not the charm. But hopefully four times is the maximum. Yesterday's July collision in Chicago marks the fourth incident -- or "accident" depending on each respective investigation -- in four months that has involved Delta Airlines planes. It all raises the question as to what, exactly, Delta's pilots are doing other than focusing on the job at hand.
 
First off in 2011, it was a Delta collision with an Air France jet at John F. Kennedy (JFK) Airport in New York, NY, in April 2011. Then there was a plane-to-plane Delta collision at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Georgia in May 2011. And just weeks ago there was an accident between two Delta planes at Boston's Logan Airport in Massachusetts on July 14, 2011. The fourth incident or accident for Delta in 2011: The two-plane collision between Delta planes, in late July, on Chicago's tarmac at O'Hare International Airport.
 
In fact it's a bit worse than it sounds: In those four 2011 runway collisions, a total of seven Delta planes have been involved in the tarmac clips or crashes -- including 'incidents' and 'accidents'. Yes, no less than seven airplanes.
 
The July 29, 2011, plane-to-plane collision in Chicago is being called 'minor' damages -- though that damage to either plane was apparently not minor enough for passengers of either Delta flight to continue upward and onward.
 
After its July 29 fender bender between two of its own airplanes, Delta Airlines really doesn't want the growing numbers of tarmac collisions to be dubbed a 'trend'. It's even said so. And airline would? After all, the recent increase in plane-to-plane runway damages could indicate safety concerns among passengers -- and raise questions about the attention span or skill of pilots. But, let's get real, Delta: Referring to all the recent collisions as a 'trend' is about the nicest way to describe 7 damaged planes in just four months' time.
 
In the O'Hare International Airport collision that occurred July 29, Delta Airlines Flight Number 2207 bound for Minneapolis collided with Delta's Flight Number 1777 that was headed for Atlanta. Delta's calling that collision a “taxiway incursion,” according to its spokesperson Chris Kelly Singley. That's a new one, Delta: While the FAA already uses the odd differentiation between "incident" or an "accident" -- "taxiway incursion".
 
Hmmm...."taxiway incursion". Is that anything like a "runway collision"? Good call, Delta: The use of that terminology will certainly, effectively, throw people of the trail. They'll never know it was yet two more Delta planes running into each other before takeoff.
 
Delta Airlines says it doesn't know the full extent of damage to the aircraft involved in the July 29 collision. Apparently the air travel company isn't took keen about sharing details regarding the extent of damages it is aware of -- since those haven't come out either. And the airline probably isn't too thrilled about modern technology -- or the fact one of its passengers on one of the involved flights last night captured photographic evidence at O' Hare and already distributed that pic to the media by July 30.
 
Passengers from the two Delta flights that collided on the tarmac near 7:30 p.m. on July 29 were removed and rescheduled on either different Delta flights or alternate flights with other airlines departing last night or early July 30, according to Delta's Singley.
 
According to the airlines spokesperson, Chris Singley: “Delta’s No. 1 priority is safety,” the spokesperson apparently told Bloomberg. When you've had five planes involved in accidents -- all on the tarmac and not even in the air -- perhaps it's better to skip certain subjects, particularly when the appearance is to the contrary.
 
Two Delta Planes Collide at Boston's Logan Airport, MA, July 14, 2011: It was just earlier in July 2011 -- only weeks ago -- when two Delta Airlines planes collided on the runway. The airline's jet hit its own plane at Boston's Logan Airport, wrecking the tail of a smaller partner plane on the tarmac as flights were preparing for takeoff at the Massachusetts international airport.
 
Two Delta Planes Collide at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, GA, in May 2011: Just a couple months before the mid-July collision, two Delta planes collided near mid-May 2011 after arriving to Georgia. The plane-to-plane collision at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport resulted in damaged tails for both airplanes after a Delta Boeing 737 was reportedly taxiing down the runway, to an arrivals gate, when the jet struck the tail of another of the airline's arriving flights that was just getting into Georgia. That runway collision occurred in Delta’s hometown hub of Atlanta. One arriving Boeing 737 was Delta flight number 552, landing from Tegucigalpa, Honduras and carrying a total of 60 people -- 50 passengers plus 5 crew members on board the flight. The wing of flight 552 coming in from Honduras collided with, and ripped, part of the tail from Delta flight 566 -- an identically-sized Boeing 737 arriving to Atlanta, Georgia, from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.
 
One Delta Plane Collides with Air France at JFK Airport in New York, NY in April 2011: One month prior, in April 2011, a plane from Delta’s Comair unit lost a crucial part of its wing in a collision with a massive Air France Airbus SAS A-380 jumbo jet at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. The Delta plane was spun like a top in an accident that rattled passengers.
 
The seven Delta planes involved in runway or tarmac collisions over just one-third of a year remain separate from yet another incident where one of the company's airplanes caught fire at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, Georgia, in April 2011.
 
According to Delta Airlines rep, Singley: “Each of the [tarmac] incidents is being looked at individually, and by no means do we [Delta Airlines] believe we have a trend." It's interesting the Delta spokesperson would address this year's recent Delta collisions as 'incidents' when in fact the July 14 crash was almost immediately upgraded to an "accident" by the NTSB: "An 'incident' is considered an 'accident' when there is a loss of life or severe damage, and in this [July 14, 2011] case [at Boston Logan International Airport] at least one plane suffered severe damage," according to NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson. 
 
Surely Delta's 'incident' reference was 'accidental'. About as accidental as that trend that doesn't exist. Trying to mislead the public hasn't proven the best path for companies that have chosen the option.
 
Claim you "believe" whatever you want, Delta -- including the idea that seven pilots' involvement in planes hitting one another is not a trend. For those at the airline that may need a dictionary, the definition of "trend" is 'the general direction in which something tends to move. Seven planes colliding in just four months' time indicates a 'move' -- toward repeated collisions.
 
Perhaps the next move may be toward looking at some different pilots. Just be sure to leave the likes of Pilot James Tyler and his open mic rant about gays and fat women with Southwest. Delta certainly doesn't need to swap problems.

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