“Somebody Hit Us": Audio Captures Pilots’ Exchange After Miami Airport Collision
In an uncharacteristically calm interaction between the pilots moments after two aircraft collided while taxiing at the Miami International Airport on Saturday, the Copa Airlines pilot can be heard acknowledging that the left wingtip seems to have been hit. The collision between the passenger jet and a UPS cargo aircraft left two people injured. The air traffic control (ATC) audio suggests that…
On Saturday, a collision occurred between a Copa Airlines Boeing 737 and a UPS cargo UPS Boeing 767 at Miami International Airport. The incident left two people injured. Despite ATC instructions for the cargo plane to yield to the Copa Airlines jet, which had 172 people on board, the wingtip of the Copa Airlines aircraft struck the nose of the cargo jet as it taxied at a low speed.
The Copa Airlines pilot acknowledged the collision, saying "Somebody hit us," to which the UPS pilot responded, "Yeah, we went too far, and then he clipped us with the wing." In the wake of the incident, Copa Airlines expressed regret for the disruption to passengers and emphasized safety as their top priority. The UPS airline confirmed that its crew was unharmed.
The collision unfolded during a period of nationwide air travel chaos caused by a nationwide ground stop due to issues in the FAA's air traffic control communications system. The crisis, which began on Friday, resulted in hundreds of thousands of passengers being stranded at airports across the US, with many sleeping on floors while awaiting rebooked flights.
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