A Copa Airlines passenger jet and a UPS cargo plane ran into each other at around 9:15 PM at a taxiway intersection at Miami International Airport on Saturday night.
Fortunately, no major injuries were reported and the planes were directed to other areas to avoid impacting airport operations. Tow Copa passengers were evaluated for minor injuries.
The damage to both planes was significant, considering that neither seemed to be traveling at high speed:
NEW: UPS Boeing 767-300F collides with a Copa Airlines Boeing 737-800 during taxi at Miami Airport. The Federal Aviation Administration said the wingtip of a Copa Airlines Boeing 737 struck the nose of a UPS Boeing 767 while both aircraft were taxiing around 9 p.m. local time. Air traffic controllers had instructed the UPS crew to give way to the Copa Airlines flight, which was heading to its gate after landing, while the UPS cargo plane was preparing to depart for Bogotá, Colombia, according to the FAA. https://t.co/JzgaZCTZWm
— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) November 15, 2026
Two Boeing planes collided while taxiing in the United States. A UPS cargo Boeing 767 and a Copa Airlines passenger Boeing 737 collided at Miami International Airport. The cargo plane was preparing to depart for Bogotá, while the passenger jet had arrived from Panama. https://t.co/tfqeJI6jin
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) November 15, 2026
The air traffic control audio from the incident has made its way to social media:
BREAKING: A UPS Boeing 767 has collided with a Copa Airlines Boeing 737 at Miami International Airport (MIA). - ATC audio https://t.co/k3ZWx4nnB2
— Scope Report (@ScopeReport_) November 15, 2026
The incident occurred just one day after the FAA authorized an exceptionally rare nationwide ground stop after radar and communications systems issues. While there was immediate concern on Friday that the stoppage may have been the result of a bad actor, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Sunday that the problem ultimately stemmed from infrastructure upgrades being done in Arkansas, leading to a cascading issue.
While current FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said on Saturday that he expected a “full recovery” of air traffic by Sunday, Mike McCormick, a former FAA senior executive, appeared on Fox News and said he thinks it will take a bit longer.
“This will take several days in order to get all the aircraft, all the passengers, all the baggage, all the flight crews all where they need to be positioned to get the system running up and running from early morning through the evening,” he told Fox News, per Mediaite.
Duffy threaded the needle on Sunday during an appearance on CBS News: "We have some delays in the airspace right now, but as we look to the end of the day and into tomorrow, we should be running at full capacity."
According to FlightAware, there were more than 22,600 delays on Saturday and 7,351 cancellations — similar to Friday’s numbers. As of midday Sunday, there were more than 13,700 delays and 1,956 cancellations.