Two planes collided on the tarmac at Miami International Airport at 9:15 p.m. (local time) on Saturday, November 14. According to reports, a Copa Airlines Boeing 737’s wingtip struck and damaged the nose of a UPS Boeing 767 during the event.Both aircraft were damaged, but two people were injured during the accident. The exact cause is yet to be determined, but it appears to be a failure to give way on a taxiway rather than a technical fault in either aircraft.“The wingtip of a Copa Airlines Boeing 737 struck the nose of a UPS Boeing 767 while the airplanes were taxiing,” the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has said.Two planes collide at Miami airport“Inside the cabin, we felt the plane jerk abruptly sideways. At first, some passengers started freaking out, but the Copa crew reacted quickly, getting everyone to remain seated,” said Cesar Ferreira, a passenger on one of the flights.By all accounts, both aircraft were approaching an intersection between two taxiways at the time. Air traffic control had instructed the UPS crew to yield to the Copa Airlines aircraft. However, the UPS crew appears to have moved too far forward, placing its nose in the path of Copa Airlines’ portside wing. Unfortunately, there was not enough clearance as the Copa Airlines 737 taxied past, and its wingtip struck the nose of the UPS 767.“Somebody hit us,” the Copa Airlines pilot reportedly told air traffic control after the collision. “Yeah, we went too far, and then he, he clipped us with the wing,” the UPS pilot reportedly replied.As for damage, the UPS 767 aircraft suffered significant denting and penetration to its starboard-side nose. The Copa Airlines 737 had its wingtip sheared off. The event occurred just one day after the FAA lifted aircraft grounding orders across the United States. This was due to issues with air traffic control communications infrastructure across the country.Cause of accident uncertain The preliminary explanation stated that maintenance work replacing ageing copper telecommunications connections with fiber-optic infrastructure contributed to a system overload, affecting communications and radar information.Operations restarted on Friday (November 13) evening, but the consequences continued into the weekend because aircraft and crews were out of position.However, it is important to note that this does not appear to be the cause of this collision. Moving forward, the accident will be investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the FAA. They are expected to analyze what went wrong and how things can be improved.Investigators will likely look closely into taxi clearance instructions, stopping position, situational awareness of crews, and other factors like human error and fatigue playing a part. They will also look into the current layout of the airport, specifically whether intersections like this require more clearance area.