Airbus A321-211 N376DN

Summary

On 22 July 2021 at about 12:54 local time, a Airbus A321-211 registered N376DN, operated by Delta Air Lines Inc, was involved in an accident near Romulus, Michigan, United States. 194 people were on board and one was seriously injured. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

22 July 2021 at 12:54

Classification

Accident

Location

Romulus, Michigan, United States

Nearest airport

Detroit Metropolitan Wayne Cou (KDTW)

Coordinates

42.2124, -83.3534

Aircraft

Airbus A321-211

Registration

N376DN

Category

Airplane

Year built

2019

Engines

2

Operator

Delta Air Lines Inc

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Denver

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DCA21LA184

1 person was seriously injured.

While conducting the safety briefing, the forward flight attendant was thrown backwards into the flight deck door due to the sudden stopping of the airplane by the flight crew to prevent a collision with a bus. Contributing to this accident was the bus drivers difficultly in observing the airplane moving towards the roadway.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the flight crew, just after they began to taxi, they observed a bus passing in front of the airplane requiring the captain to suddenly apply the brakes to avoid colliding with the bus. The captain immediately called the flight attendants (FA), who were conducting their safety demonstration, to check on their condition and the condition of the passengers. The forward FA indicated that he had been thrown backwards into the flight deck door but was alright to continue with the flight. While enroute to Denver, the forward FA informed the flight crew that he was a little sore, but he and the rest of the FAs were fine to continue their return flight to Detroit. However, after arriving in Detroit, the forward flight attendant sought medical treatment and was diagnosed with a broken rib. According to the operator, the Delta employee bus was in the process of training new drivers. There are four roadways that cross the taxi lanes between the two terminals. At the time of the accident, the only policy was to stop at the stop sign and visually confirm it was safe to cross the taxi lanes. A review of video from the bus showed that it stopped at the stop sign and then proceeded to cross the taxi lanes. The video shows that from the perspective of the bus driver, it is difficult to see the area in which the airplane was parked from the roadway and the 45-degree pushback made it difficult to observe the airplane moving towards the roadway. As a result of this event, Delta implemented a restriction on vehicle crossing the taxi lanes when there are airplanes in the vicinity of the roadway.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.