New York’s WPIX was constrained by its newscast’s slick format on Monday night when breaking news hit.

Just after 8 p.m. on Monday, two planes collided while taxiing at JFK airport. And while WPIX’s rival WNYW began its 10 p.m. newscast with prolonged coverage of the accident, the Tribune-owned CW-affiliate launched into its regular “11 in 11″ segment, giving just a few seconds to the breaking news before darting to another story in the fast-paced rundown of news that begins every WPIX nighttime newscast.

As FishbowlNY points out, anchor Jodi Applegate (above, right) mentioned the JFK accident as the #1 story of “11 in 11″ as the station showed still photos from a website. Meanwhile, WNYW, which has lately been expanding its 10 p.m. ratings lead, devoted several minutes of “Breaking News” coverage to the story with live video and reporting from its chopper.

For its part, WPIX eventually returned to the JFK story later in the newscast (around 10:20) with Marvin Scott reporting live from the airport. Read more at FishbowlNY