The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating after a Delta plane clipped a jet while attempting to take off from an Atlanta airport.
According to agency preliminary information, Delta Air Lines Flight 1830 was pushing back from the gate at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Sunday, Aug. 10, when its right wingtip struck the left winglet of a parked Airbus A350 around 10:40 a.m. local time.
There were 192 passengers and six crew members on board the Guatemala-bound aircraft, according to Delta. There were no reported injuries.
Plane clipping caused a nearly 4 hour delay
The incident caused a delay lasting around three hours and 30 minutes.
"We apologize to our customers for the experience and delay in their travels," The airline said to USA TODAY in an emailed statement.
The incident occurred in a part of the airport where air traffic controllers do not communicate with flight crews, the FAA said. Following the strike, the aircraft returned to the gate, and passengers deplaned and boarded another aircraft, FlightAware data shows.
Another recent incident: Delta plane diverted due to 'significant turbulence'
This comes nearly two weeks after a Delta flight carrying 275 passengers and 13 crew members from Salt Lake City on route to Amsterdam was forced to divert to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport after suffering "significant turbulence" on July 30.
Some passengers were not wearing seatbelts as serving carts were making their way down the aisle, ABC News reported at the time. Passengers hit the ceiling and then fell to the ground, Leann Clement-Nash, one of the passengers on board, told the outlet.
"It happened several times, so it was really scary," said Clement-Nash.
Contributing: John Bacon and Zach Wichter
Michelle Del Rey is a trending news reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at mdelrey@usatoday.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Delta plane strikes aircraft during pushback from Atlanta airport gate
Reporting by Michelle Del Rey , USA TODAY / USA TODAY
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect