Trouble this morning at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) as a taxiing Japan Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner struck the tail of a stationary Delta Air Lines Boeing 737-800.
According to data from FlightRadar24 the roughly eight year old Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, registration JA868J had just arrived in Seattle as Japan Airlines Flight 68 from Tokyo Narita Airport (NRT) and was taxiing to its arrival gate when it struck the tail of Delta Flight 1921, operated by a 24 year old Boeing 737-800 with the registration N3737C, bound for Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (PVR).
The right wing of the 787 struck the vertical stabilizer of the Delta jet, slicing partly through the metal.
Japan Airlines plane collides with parked Delta plane at Seattle-Tacoma International Airportpic.twitter.com/HVTpDHOZX3
— NewsWire (@NewsWire_US) February 5, 2025
According to reports, the Delta aircraft was in the queue for de-icing when the incident occurred. Snow had fallen in the area earlier in the day. The airline issued a statement regarding the incident, stating:
“While in sequence for deicing, the tail of a Delta 737 aircraft reportedly made contact with a wing tip of another airline’s aircraft. There are no reports of injuries of crew or customers on the flight, and we apologize for the experience and delay in travels.”
This is the second incident involving a Delta aircraft in the last six months, coming after a Delta A350 knocked the tail off of a Delta Connection CRJ-900 at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) in September.
Summary
A Japan Airlines 787 struck the tail of a Delta Boeing 737-800 while taxiing earlier today at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA). Both planes have been taken out of service and no injuries have been reported from either aircraft or workers on the ground.