A Delta plane was forced to make an emergency landing on Monday after passengers observed a “haze” inside the aircraft.
Delta Flight DL876 was heading from Atlanta, Georgia to Columbia, South Carolina around 11:20 am on Monday when the incident took place. Footage obtained by 11Alive shows an unexplained smoky haze on Boeing 717 aircraft shortly after the airplane took off.
In a written statement, a Delta spokesperson said: “The flight crew followed procedures to return to Atlanta when a haze inside the aircraft was observed after departure. Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people, and we apologize to our customers for the experience.”
An emergency was quickly declared to get priority handling from air traffic control, the spokesperson continued. There were 94 customers, two pilots and three flight attendants on board the aircraft.
When the plane returned to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, evacuation slides were deployed to help passengers deboard. Staff then brought customers to the terminal via ground transportation where they were rebooked to their final destination.
Delta did not release additional information about the incident. A spokesperson for the airport said officials still do not know what caused the haze.
Atlanta Fire Rescue responded to the scene but their response was not indicative of a fire on the plane, the airport spokesperson continued.
The Independent has emailed Boeing for comment.
A week ago, Delta experienced another transportation disaster when a plane crash-landed upside down in Toronto and ignited upon impact. Everyone on board survived the incident but 21 people were left injured.
It’s unknown what caused the incident, which is under investigation by the Canadian Transportation Safety Board and U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. The plane departed from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport early Monday morning.
Before that, the US suffered from a series of fatal plane crashes last month. First, an American Eagle regional jet collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter as it attempted to land at Ronald Reagan International Airport in Arlington, Virginia January 29, killing all 67 people on both aircraft.
Two days later, a medical jet crashed in Philadelphia, killing seven people on board, including an 11-year-old girl and her mother. The child was obtaining treatment at an area children’s hospital. The mother and daughter were heading to Missouri for a layover, with a final destination in Tijuana, Mexico.
