Planes collide at Miami runway crossing immediately after national grounding is lifted

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Two planes collided at a runway crossing at Miami International Airport immediately after a national flight grounding that prompted travel chaos was lifted.

The wingtip of a Boeing 737 jet from Latin American carrier Copa Airlines struck the nose of a Boeing 767 used for UPS deliveries while the planes were taxiing on the tarmac Saturday night, the Federal Aviation Administration told The Independent. The agency said it was investigating the crash.

“We were taxiing after landing at a normal speed when, all of a sudden, I heard the chatter around me getting louder, followed by a collective scream and then the impact of another aircraft hitting ours,” Cesar Ferreira, a passenger on the Copa Airlines flight, told CNN.

“Inside the cabin, we felt the plane jerk abruptly sideways. At first, some passengers started freaking out, but the Copa crew reacted quickly, getting everyone to remain seated.”

Two people were treated for minor injuries, Greg Chin, the airport’s communications director, told The Independent.

The crash came a day after federal officials lifted a ground stop for all airports in the country following a technical failure that affected the air traffic control system.

For more than four hours on Friday, air traffic came to a halt, leaving thousands of travelers stranded at airports, and even on planes that were set to take off moments before the flight grounding.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the technical failure stemmed from a contractor replacing old copper wire on telecommunication lines, adding that federal officials were investigating whether the contractor’s “incompetence” or a faulty router was the cause.

In typical Donald Trump fashion, the president blamed Democratic rival, former President Joe Biden, and his administration for “making an old and broken system worse.”

The FAA said during the incident at Miami International, which happened around 9 p.m. ET, the Copa flight was taxiing to the gate and the UPS flight was taxiing for departure to Bogota, Colombia.

“Air traffic controllers had told the UPS crew to give way to the Copa flight,” the agency said.

Air traffic control audio reviewed by CNN gave more insight into the moments following the crash.

“Somebody hit us,” the pilot of the Copa Airlines flight said.

The controller asked the UPS plane’s crew if they had made contact with the other jet, to which the pilot responded, “Yeah, we went too far, and then he, he clipped us with the wing.”

“It seems that we are missing the left wingtip,” the Copa Airlines pilot said.

Chin, the airport representative, told The Independent, “Flights were directed to other taxiways, so there was no impact to airport operations.”

Copa Airlines said in a statement shared on X that there were 166 passengers and six crew members on the Boeing 737. They said two passengers were treated for minor injuries and the rest of the passengers and crew members were in “good condition.”

“We regret any inconvenience and concern this situation may have caused,” Copa Airlines said in a statement translated to English. “We reiterate that the safety of passengers and crew is our priority. We will cooperate with the authorities in this investigation.”

UPS told The Independent, “Our crew is safe, and we are committed to working with authorities to determine what happened.

“The safety of our employees and the public is our highest priority.”

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