NTSB joins probe of Kennedy plane mishap

The National Transportation Safety Board has joined the investigation of what caused the world's largest passenger plane to hit a smaller jet at Kennedy Airport on Monday night.

"We're collecting information and awaiting a report of the damage assessment," said Keith Holloway, a spokesman for the NTSB in Washington.

An Air France Airbus A380 was rolling down Taxiway A about 8:10 p.m. when its left wing clipped the tail of a Comair Bombardier Canada Regional Jet CRJ7, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, which also is investigating the crash.

The Air France jet, which carried 495 passengers and 25 crew members, was preparing to depart for Paris, and the Comair plane, with 62 passengers and four crew members, had just arrived from Boston, said Jim Peters, a spokesman for the FAA.

The regional jet was on Taxiway M, which intersects with Taxiway A. The tip of the Air France jet's left wing struck the Comair plane's tail fin as it passed. With a wingspan of more than 281 feet, the two-level A380 is wider than a soccer field.

According to air traffic control audio recordings posted on the website LiveATC.net, a controller at the Kennedy tower cleared the A380 to move onto Taxiway A. Shortly after, the pilot of Comair Flight 563 states that another plane "just hit us at Mike," referring to Taxiway M.

The pilot of the regional jet was "waiting to go into the gate area" at the Delta terminal when the crash happened, Peters said. The impact spun the regional jet nearly 90 degrees. There were no reported injuries, Peters said.

Anthony Black, spokesman for Delta Air Lines, which owns Comair, said the smaller jet had just turned a corner of the taxiway when it was struck.

Black said the pilots of the Comair jet are cooperating with the NTSB, FAA and the Port Authority, which operates Kennedy Airport. The Port Authority and the FAA prepared the protocols for the A380 to taxi. Officials with both agencies said Tuesday they had no plans to change those protocols before concluding their investigation.

The A380 is a third larger and heavier than a Boeing 747-800 jet, and the FAA and the Port Authority have standards for distance separations when the A380 uses taxiways.

The Air France jet was carrying 18 exchange students from France returning home after spending a week with families in the Smithtown School District, a district spokeswoman said.