'My Goodness': Two Delta Flights Narrowly Avoid Mid-Air Collision at Atlanta After Duplicate ATC Instructions

Two Delta Air Lines jets came dangerously close to one another over Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport late on Monday evening, July 27, 2026, after air traffic controllers directed a departing Airbus A321 into the path of a Boeing 737-900 that was already executing a go-around. Anti-collision alarms sounded in both cockpits, evasive action was taken, and the FAA has since confirmed it is investigating the incident.

A Night Already Disrupted by Weather

The close call unfolded at the end of a day of widespread disruption at Atlanta, where Delta is by far the largest operator. Severe weather across the region had already caused significant delays and cancellations at Hartsfield-Jackson. It was against that backdrop of congested, weather-degraded operations that the two Delta jets came within dangerous proximity of one another.

The inbound flight involved in the incident was Delta flight DL1568, a Boeing 737-900ER registered N937DZ that had originated at Pittsburgh International Airport. The flight departed Pittsburgh as normal, but was forced to divert to Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport in Tennessee due to adverse weather over Atlanta that evening.

After a lengthy wait on the ground in Chattanooga, the flight resumed its journey at 10:36 PM and arrived in Atlanta's airspace shortly before 11:00 PM.

The Go-Around That Triggered the Close Call

As DL1568 approached Atlanta on its second attempt of the evening, the crew spotted another aircraft on the runway and elected to execute a go-around. Air traffic control told the pilot the aircraft on the runway would move in time, but the crew elected to go around regardless – a conservative and entirely legitimate safety call.

Go-arounds are practiced extensively in training and are considered a standard safety response, but they increase the complexity of traffic management in already congested airspace.

As the 737 climbed away during the go-around, Delta flight DL2472 – an Airbus A321 registered N333DX – was departing Atlanta for Greater Rochester International Airport in New York. DL2472 took off from a parallel runway and was instructed by air traffic control to turn right and climb to 4,000 feet.

Moments later, the crew of DL1568 received the same instruction: turn right and climb to 4,000 feet – placing both aircraft on converging flight paths simultaneously.

Anti-collision alarms activated in both cockpits, and the crew of DL2472 informed air traffic control they were “responding RA” – meaning they were following a Traffic Collision Avoidance System Resolution Advisory, the highest level of TCAS alert, which commands pilots to take immediate avoiding action independently of any ATC instruction. Both crews took evasive action. 

CNN reported that at their closest point, the two aircraft came within just 1,800 feet horizontally and 600 feet vertically of one another – a separation that aviation safety experts describe as dangerously small for two commercial jets in a busy terminal environment. Live air traffic control recordings captured an alarmed exclamation of "my goodness" as the situation unfolded.

Both Flights Reached Their Destinations

After the near-miss, the Rochester-bound DL2472 continued on its planned route to the northeast without further incident, landing at Greater Rochester International Airport at 12:44 AM on Tuesday after one hour and 43 minutes in the air – itself delayed from its original planned arrival of 11:48 PM.

As for DL1568, after flying a holding loop to the north of Atlanta, the 737-900ER touched down at Hartsfield-Jackson at 11:16 PM – more than three hours behind its original scheduled arrival of 8:05 PM.

Delta Air Lines confirmed the incident in a statement: 

During the go-around, the flight crew maneuvered in accordance with established procedures while maintaining safe operations. Our crews train extensively to handle uncommon scenarios like this.

FAA Investigation and Broader Safety Context

The FAA has confirmed it plans to investigate the incident. The close call adds to an increasingly troubling record of near-miss events at major US airports in 2026. Earlier this year, a Delta Airbus A319 came within 300 feet of an American Airlines Boeing 737 at Boston Logan after a controller cleared both aircraft onto intersecting runways simultaneously. In January 2025, a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ-700 collided mid-air with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport, killing all 67 people on board.

The pattern has drawn sustained attention from safety advocates, pilot unions, and Congress, all of whom have pressed the FAA to accelerate staffing and modernization efforts. As of March 2026, the agency identified more than 150 US airports as runway incursion hot spots. Atlanta, as one of the busiest airports in the world, sits at the center of that challenge – and Monday's incident is a reminder of how quickly a compounding sequence of events can push a congested airspace system to its limits.