A UPS cargo flight and a Copa Airlines passenger jet arriving from Panama City collided on the ground at Miami International Airport on Saturday night, injuring at least two people one day after the Federal Aviation Administration declared a nationwide ground stop over an air traffic controller communication issue.
Key Facts
The collision took place around 9:15 p.m. EST, Miami-Dade Aviation Department communications director Greg Chin told Forbes in a statement, but both aircraft were redirected to other runways and therefore did not “impact airport operations.”
The wingtip of the Copa Airlines plane, which had just arrived from Panama City, struck the UPS jet’s nose while both aircraft were taxiing, FAA public affairs specialist Steve Kulm told Forbes in a statement.
The UPS flight, which was taxiing to depart for Bogota, Colombia, was given instructions from air traffic controllers to give way for the Copa Airlines flight, Kulm said, which was taxiing toward the gate.
Two people were treated for minor injuries by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, Chin said, and did not require hospitalization.
There were 166 passengers and six crew members on the Copa Airlines flight, the airline said in a statement on social media.
Forbes has reached out to UPS for further comment on the incident.
Key Background
The unnerving collision at Miami International Airport came only one day after the FAA lifted a nationwide ground stop for commercial flights across the country. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed the ground stop on the aging telecommunications system used by air traffic controllers, calling it “DECADES-OLD, analog equipment that simply cannot compete with the demands of the 21st century.”
On Saturday, Duffy said officials believe the issue started when government contractor L3Harris was doing “routine maintenance” on a router in at least one remote location. “What we’re working to determine was whether we had incompetence, meaning was it user error or installer error from L3Harris, or did they install a faulty router?”
Duffy asked on Saturday. “We haven’t determined what the fault was—was it the router, or were they not doing great work for us at L3Harris?”
Crucial Quote
“Based on everything that we’re hearing from our airline partners, they believe they’ll be able to have a full schedule integrity by the close of business on Sunday,” FAA administrator Bryan Bedford said at a press conference on Saturday.
“So, I do think the worst is behind us, but we still do have a significant amount of recovery work to do with our airline stakeholder group.”
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