Two regional flights operated by Endeavor Air, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, collided on a LaGuardia Airport taxiway on Wednesday evening, injuring one passenger, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said.
Passengers were removed from both planes on the taxiway and were taken by bus to a terminal at the airport, according to a statement from the Port Authority, which manages LaGuardia in Queens. Delta Air Lines did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The cause of the accident was unclear as of early Thursday.
A Bombardier CRJ-900 jet was preparing to take off when it struck another Bombardier that was heading to a gate at 9:58 p.m., the Port Authority said. Videos and photos posted on social media showed one of the planes missing a wing.
The injured passenger was hospitalized as a precaution, the Port Authority said.
Though the incident happened in the first 24 hours of a government shutdown, disrupting federal services and sending many federal employees home without pay, air traffic controllers are considered essential workers and remain working without being paid.
But a critical shortage of air traffic controllers has contributed to aviation accidents and near-misses at several U.S. airports, according to a June report ordered by Congress. In May, flights at Newark Airport were delayed for up to seven hours because there were not enough air traffic controllers scheduled to work.
The Federal Aviation Administration said in August that it expected to hire at least 8,900 air traffic controllers by 2028, an effort that would be stalled by the government shutdown.
Francesca Regalado is a Times reporter covering breaking news.
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