Show menu

Are plane collisions on the ground increasing in the U.S.?

Two Delta Connection regional jets paused on a LaGuardia taxiway, illustrating ground-safety procedures amid questions about plane collisions on the ground.
by
6 min read

A low-speed collision between two Delta Connection jets at LaGuardia Airport on October 1, 2025 has renewed attention on ground safety. The Endeavor Air-operated CRJ-900s made contact while taxiing, injuring a flight attendant and damaging both aircraft, according to early reports. We examined federal data and recent investigations to answer a key question for travelers and the industry: are plane collisions on the ground in the United States actually increasing, or does heightened awareness make it seem that way? Here is what the numbers and experts show.

Key points

  • Why it matters: Ground collisions can injure people, damage aircraft, and disrupt operations.
  • Travel impact: Most incidents are low speed and localized, but diversions and delays can ripple across networks.
  • What's next: FAA and NTSB probes will assess human factors, surface tech, and procedures at busy hubs.
  • FAA data show serious runway incursions fell in 2024, despite several headline close calls.
  • Comprehensive "ramp collision" statistics are fragmented, complicating trend analysis.

Snapshot

The LaGuardia taxiway crash fits a rare but visible slice of ground risk: aircraft-to-aircraft contact during taxi or pushback. Public, first-party datasets most consistently track runway incursions rather than all ramp collisions. Within that measured category, the FAA reports that serious Category A/B incursions declined in fiscal 2024 to single digits nationwide, the lowest since 2019. Broader, lower-severity incursions numbered in the thousands in 2023, then eased in 2024 on a per-operation basis. Recent NTSB cases at John F. Kennedy International Airport and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport highlighted controller workload, flight-deck task loading, visibility, and uneven deployment of surface-movement radar as contributing factors. Bottom line: the highest-risk events are trending down, while lower-severity events remain a persistent management challenge.

Background

U.S. aviation safety reporting slices ground risk in several ways. Runway incursions count incorrect presence on runways and are graded A through D by collision risk. Ramp or taxi collisions include wingtip strikes, pushback contacts, and equipment impacts, which are captured across multiple systems and investigations but are not published in one unified government trend line. In 2023, two widely covered near-catastrophes at JFK and Austin underscored how close calls can occur without contact, and how technology like ASDE-X or ASSC can provide alerts that avert disaster. In 2024, federal investigators emphasized training gaps and controller staffing pressures. Against that backdrop, the LaGuardia collision is notable for actual contact and injury, but remains statistically uncommon relative to total operations at major hubs.

Latest developments

Delta LaGuardia taxiway collision prompts renewed scrutiny

Initial accounts indicate two Endeavor Air CRJ-900s, one arriving from Charlotte and one departing for Roanoke, contacted on a LaGuardia taxiway around 10 p.m. Eastern on October 1, 2025. The right wing of the departing jet reportedly clipped the arriving aircraft's nose and cockpit area, breaking a cockpit window and damaging a wing, with one cabin crew member treated for minor injury. Passengers were bussed to the terminal, and airport operations continued with limited disruption. FAA and NTSB inquiries will examine clearances, flight-deck and ramp communications, and any surface-movement alerts that did or did not trigger. Delta and Endeavor say they are cooperating, and LaGuardia's advanced surface-movement radar will factor into the review.

Are serious ground risks rising, or is attention rising?

Federal data suggest a decline in the most dangerous runway incursions. The DOT Inspector General reports nine Category A/B incursions in fiscal 2024, about 0.51 percent of total incursions, the lowest since 2019. Industry summaries note the overall incursion rate fell from 2023 to 2024, and the serious-event rate dropped sharply per million operations. News analyses early in 2024 spotlighted more than 1,700 incursions in 2023, but those totals include many low-risk Category C/D events. The measurable signal: serious close calls are down, even if headlines imply the opposite.

What we know, and do not, about "ramp collisions"

Unlike incursions, aircraft-to-aircraft ramp collisions are not consolidated in a single public trend report. NTSB dockets and the FAA's ASIAS and AIDS systems contain event-level records, but they span airlines and general aviation and require case-by-case analysis. Safety foundations estimate tens of thousands of worldwide ramp accidents annually across all severities, but those figures mix equipment strikes with aircraft contact and are not U.S.-only. NBAA and IBAC emphasize towing and pushback as common damage pathways on the business-aviation ramp. Takeaway: U.S.-specific ramp-collision trends are harder to quantify publicly than runway incursions, and current first-party sources do not show a validated national uptick.

Analysis

For travelers and airline planners, the risk lens should distinguish frequency from severity. Low-speed taxi or gate-area contacts, like LaGuardia's Delta case, remain rare relative to movements at top-10 airports, and they seldom cause mass injury. By contrast, Category A/B incursions represent the highest collision potential; the latest federal numbers show those events fell in 2024. The 2023 JFK near-collision and the 2023 Austin overflight made clear that human factors, visibility, and procedural drift can converge quickly, and that surface-movement surveillance is a decisive barrier when installed. The LaGuardia investigation will likely probe communication discipline, sterile-cockpit adherence during taxi, and hold-short compliance on crowded ramp geometries. From a systems perspective, continued deployment of ASSC/ASDE-X at busy airports, targeted hot-spot redesigns under the FAA's Runway Incursion Mitigation program, and controller staffing and training reforms remain the big levers. Based on current first-party evidence, the claim that ground collisions are "increasing" nationally is not supported; however, fragmented ramp-collision reporting is a limitation. Transparency would improve with a regular, consolidated ramp-damage trendline covering Part 121 operations.

Final thoughts

The LaGuardia taxiway crash is a useful reminder: even with layered defenses, ground operations are unforgiving. The best available federal trend data point to fewer serious runway incursions in 2024, and industry rates improved year over year. Because ramp-collision statistics are diffuse, the perception of a surge can outrun facts when several visible events cluster. For now, the weight of first-party evidence suggests no national increase in plane collisions on the ground, while reinforcing the value of surface-movement technology, rigorous taxi procedures, and targeted hot-spot fixes at complex airports.

Sources

Topics