What happened
On October 7, 2011, during pushback operations at an airport in Atlanta, Georgia, a McDonnell Douglas MD-88, registration N922DL, was involved in a ground collision. The incident occurred while the aircraft, operated by Delta Air Lines Inc, was being pushed back from its gate.
The tug driver reported that he initiated a turn early in the pushback sequence to avoid an aircraft parked at an adjacent gate. During this maneuver, the driver failed to straighten the tug in time, causing it to impact the left side of the aircraft. The pilot of the flight noted that the aircraft had overshot the centerline and was being corrected back to the line when a metallic sound was heard following the movement of the tug.
There were 0 fatalities and 0 injuries resulting from the event.
The investigation
Investigation into the impact revealed that the collision caused substantial damage to the airplane's nose landing gear support beam. Additionally, the impact resulted in a puncture in the aircraft's pressure vessel.