Seven members of one extended family have filed federal lawsuits against Delta Air Lines and Japan Airlines over a low-speed ground collision at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, according to Aviation A2Z.

The incident occurred on February 5, 2025, when a Japan Airlines Boeing 787, arriving from Tokyo Narita as Flight 68, struck the tail of a parked Delta Boeing 737, Flight 1921, which was preparing to depart for Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. 

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found the JAL aircraft was moving at roughly two knots (2.3 mph) at the time of contact and attributed the collision to the JAL crew's failure to maintain adequate clearance while taxiing in congested, snow- and deicing-fluid-slickened ramp conditions with poorly defined holding points and no ground marshal directing the aircraft.

The NTSB's final report recorded no injuries among the 150 people aboard the Delta jet or the 185 aboard the JAL aircraft. 

Despite that finding, members of the Robertson family—Renardo Robertson, his wife Donna Robertson, daughter Danielle Robertson, her husband Vainqueur Niyotwagira, their two minor daughters, and Donna's brother Cary Baylis—have pursued injury claims in two separate federal cases, both naming Delta and Japan Airlines as defendants. 

The claims include allegations of back, knee, and shoulder injuries; the article notes these remain unproven allegations in pending litigation.

Because the Delta flight was international, the claims fall under the Montreal Convention, which governs airline liability for passenger injury on international carriage regardless of which airline was found at fault for the underlying accident. 

A jury trial in one of the cases has been set for April 19, 2027.

Source: Aviation A2Z