A Delta Airlines flight headed for New York’s JFK Airport declared an emergency and turned around over the Atlantic Ocean Tuesday afternoon.
Flight DAL4 left London Heathrow Airport at 4.24pm local time Tuesday and was expected to land in New York City at 9.23pm eastern time, according to FlightAware.
The Boeing 767-400, with 129 passengers, three pilots and nine flight attendants onboard, was diverted to Ireland’s Shannon Airport after crew noticed a ‘mechanical issue with flight deck window heat,’ Delta Airlines told DailyMail.com.
The airline said that ‘captain followed standard procedure’ and made sure to ‘divert to the nearest suitable airport.’
Everyone onboard was evacuated safely after the plane landed in Ireland.
Delta flight DAL4 headed for New York’s JFK Airport declared an emergency and turned around over the Atlantic Ocean Tuesday afternoon. (Pictured: Stock image)
‘We apologize to our customers for the delay in their travel plans. As nothing is more important than safety, the crew of Delta flight 4 followed standard procedures to divert to Shannon, Ireland after observing a mechanical issue,’ the airline said.
‘The flight landed safely and customers deplaned at an arrival gate.’
News of this airline emergency comes just a day after at least 12 people, including a US citizen, died after a small plane plunged into the Caribbean Sea.
The fatal crash took place minutes after the mainland-bound Jetstream aircraft took off from the Honduran island of Roatan on Monday night.
The Lanhsa airline flight was carrying 14 passengers and three crew members, according to the country’s transport minister, who said the wreckage was found about 0.6 miles off the island’s coast.
At least 12 people were killed after a Jetstream aircraft operated by Honduran airline Lanhsa plunged into the Caribbean Sea Monday night
A dozen people were killed and five more were rescued after an ‘apparent mechanical failure’ sent the plane spiraling into the sea, CBS reports.
Civil aviation official Carlos Padilla described how the aircraft took off and ‘made a sharp turn to the right of the runway and fell into the water’.
A fisherman below told HCH television he narrowly avoided being struck.
‘The plane almost fell on us. I was fishing,’ he explained.
Among those killed was popular Honduran musician and politician Aurelio Martinez.
