Delta Plane’s Cabin Engulfed by Thick Smoke After Takeoff From Atlanta, Report Reveals
The
the smoke that engulfed the cabin
The fog during a Delta flight taking off from the Atlanta airport in February was extremely dense. The lead flight attendant could barely see beyond the first row of passengers, and the pilots used oxygen masks as a safety measure.
The National Transportation Safety Board stated in a report
preliminary report
On Wednesday, the aircraft swiftly returned to the airport early on February 24th and removed everyone onboard—there were 99 individuals in total. Although two people experienced slight injuries during this process, nobody was harmed due to the smoke.
At first, the airline characterized the event as merely a foggy condition within the Boeing 717 plane. A representative from Delta stated they could not provide commentary due to the continuing probe conducted by the NTSB, which the company is fully assisting with.
According to the report, the flight attendants noted that the smoke first appeared near one of the entry doors at the front of the aircraft before spreading through all the air conditioning vents onboard. They attempted to contact the cockpit crew but could not get through initially as the pilots were preoccupied with executing emergency protocols and piloting the aircraft.
The flight attendants informed the passengers that they were prepared for the scenario and requested everyone to stay composed.
Shortly after the smoke was noticed, the NTSB stated that the pilots received a warning of low oil pressure from the right engine. Consequently, they decided to shut it off while heading back to the airport. Upon landing, when maintenance staff examined the engine, they discovered minimal amounts—or even an absence—of oil within it.
The NTSB has not yet concluded whether the oil leak was responsible for the smoke. This will only be confirmed once they finalize their complete report at some point next year.
Upon landing, the aircraft was greeted by firefighters, and once the pilots opened the cockpit door, they “observed a significant quantity of smoke inside the cabin,” as stated in the report. Consequently, the captain promptly initiated an emergency evacuation.
The passengers left the aircraft using both the emergency slides located at the front and rear, as well as some ascending from the wings.
The intended destination of the flight was Columbia, South Carolina.
Josh Funk, The Associated Press