A Delta Air Lines Airbus A350-900 departing for Tokyo clipped the tail of an Air Canada aircraft on the ground at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on Tuesday, 6 October 2026. No one was hurt, according to both airlines, and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says it is investigating.
What the FAA says happened
In a statement reported by Los Angeles station KTLA, the FAA said Delta Air Lines Flight 7 was taxiing for departure when its left wingtip clipped the horizontal stabilizer of an Air Canada flight. The Air Canada aircraft was being towed and had stopped short of its gate. The agency said the event occurred at around 10:30 a.m. local time.
Delta Flight 7 is the carrier's service from Los Angeles to Tokyo Haneda. A Delta spokesperson confirmed that the aircraft involved was an Airbus A350-900 and that 275 passengers and 15 crew members were on board at the time. No injuries were reported.
Air Canada aircraft out of service
Air Canada said its aircraft had arrived from Toronto and was being towed to the gate when "an aircraft operated by another airline made contact with its tail." The airline confirmed that there were no reported injuries and said the aircraft will be taken out of service for inspection and repairs.
Aerial footage from KTLA's Sky5 helicopter showed the Delta jet stopped on the taxiway next to the Air Canada aircraft at a gate. The tip of the Delta A350's left wing appeared damaged, with a piece of it apparently left on the Air Canada aircraft's horizontal stabilizer. Photos obtained by TMZ showed a gash in the Air Canada aircraft's tailplane, and a passenger on the Delta flight told the outlet that the contact felt like a big jolt followed by an abrupt stop.
Delta: "Nothing is more important than safety"
Delta said its maintenance crews and airport teams were assessing the aircraft and working to accommodate customers, and that it is cooperating with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on any investigation. "Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people, and we apologize to our customers for the experience and delay in their travels," the Delta spokesperson said.
Neither airline has said how long the two aircraft will be out of service, and Delta has not said when passengers booked on Tuesday's Flight 7 will reach Tokyo. Travellers on the affected flights should check their booking in the Delta or Air Canada app for rebooking details.
A familiar risk on busy ramps
Wingtip strikes during taxi and towing are a well-known risk at congested airports, where widebody aircraft with large wingspans pass close to parked or moving aircraft near the gates. They rarely cause injuries, but they usually take both aircraft out of service until engineers have inspected the structure and completed repairs.
Europe has seen similar ground contacts in recent days. As we reported, an easyJet jet's sharklet clipped a parked Air Serbia A320 at Paris CDG, and a Corendon 737 MAX wingtip hit a fire truck at Friedrichshafen before a flight to Antalya.
The FAA has not yet published any findings on the LAX event, and it is too early to say what caused the contact. We will update this article if the FAA, the NTSB or the airlines release more information.
Sources: FAA, Delta Air Lines and Air Canada statements via KTLA; CP24/CTV News; New York Post; TMZ.
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