Delta jet bound for Tokyo clips Air Canada plane on LAX taxiway; FAA investigating

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Headline graphic: Wing meets tail, over a file photo of a Delta A350 winglet in flight

Cover photo: File photo (Delta A350 N512DN winglet, May 2026; not collision damage) by 4300streetcar, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; cropped, darkened and text added by The Southbound 105.

By Alberto Zamudio | The Southbound 105 | Oct. 11, 2026

LOS ANGELES — A Delta Air Lines jet headed for Tokyo clipped the tail of an Air Canada plane while taxiing at Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday morning, tearing off part of the Delta wing and leaving both aircraft grounded for repairs. No one was hurt.

Delta Flight 7 was taxiing for departure at about 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 6 when its left wingtip struck the horizontal stabilizer of Air Canada Flight 785, according to preliminary information from the Federal Aviation Administration. The Air Canada plane had just arrived from Toronto and was being towed when it stopped short of its gate, the FAA said.

Who was on board

Delta said its plane, an Airbus A350, was carrying 275 customers and 15 crew members to Tokyo's Haneda Airport. "While taxiing at Los Angeles International Airport, a Delta aircraft made contact with an Air Canada aircraft," the airline said in a statement. "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."

Air Canada spokesperson Sean Davidson said there were no reported injuries and that its Boeing 777 "will be taken out of service for inspection and repairs."

A winglet stuck in a tail

Photos of the aftermath, described by Simple Flying and ABC7, showed the A350's winglet torn off and lodged in the 777's right horizontal stabilizer, which was left with a large gash. The contact happened on a taxiway near Terminal 6.

A passenger on another plane, Jayson Lowe, chief executive of Ascendant Financial, said he watched it happen from his window. "A Delta A350 managed to hit a parked Air Canada plane. A parked plane. I cannot stress this enough," he wrote on social media, as quoted by the Los Angeles Times.

Delays, not disruption

Los Angeles World Airports, which runs LAX, stressed that the incident happened on a taxiway, not a runway, and that flights continued normally. Passengers on the affected flights were told to contact their airlines.

The trip was still a long one for Delta travelers. Flight-tracking data cited by Simple Flying showed Delta operated Flight 7 with a replacement A350 that left LAX at 6:08 p.m., more than eight hours late. Air Canada canceled the return flight to Toronto that the damaged 777 was scheduled to fly.

Investigation

The FAA is investigating and called its account preliminary and subject to change. The National Transportation Safety Board was reviewing whether the damage warrants its own investigation. Neither agency has said what caused the Delta crew to misjudge the clearance.

Ground collisions like this one are usually low-speed and rarely cause injuries, but they are expensive: both widebody jets are out of service until inspected and repaired. They also come at a busy time for LAX, which is in the middle of years of construction ahead of the 2028 Olympics.

What investigators will look at

The A350-900 has a wingspan of roughly 212 feet, and taxiing a widebody through a crowded ramp area depends on painted taxi lines, instructions from ground controllers and, near gates, ground crews watching wingtip clearance. Planes under tow are moved by a tug crew working with the airport's ramp control. Investigators are likely to examine where the Air Canada jet stopped relative to its gate and the taxi line, what instructions each crew received, and whether anyone flagged the tight clearance before the Delta jet rolled past.

For travelers, the episode is a reminder of federal refund rules: under U.S. Department of Transportation rules, passengers on a flight that is canceled or significantly delayed, defined as six hours or more for international trips, are entitled to a refund if they choose not to travel.

It is the latest in a string of incidents involving LAX-bound or departing planes this year, including flames erupting from a landing plane's brakes in August. The Southbound 105 will update this story when the FAA or NTSB releases findings.

Sources

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