Delta Air Lines has successfully retrieved the emergency slide that dislodged from an aircraft shortly after departing from John F. Kennedy International Airport last week.
On Monday, the New York City Parks Department issued a statement confirming Delta’s removal of a significant debris piece found near Beach 131st Street in Queens.
According to Delta, the emergency exit slide became detached from the aircraft during the departure of Flight 520 to Los Angeles on Friday morning. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stated that the flight returned to JFK after the crew reported experiencing vibration.
Before declaring an emergency, Delta reported that the flight crew observed an indicator light associated with the emergency exit above the right wing and heard unusual sounds emanating from the wing area.
Following a safe landing at JFK, the Boeing 767 was taken out of service, with the 176 passengers and seven crew members accommodated on another flight to Los Angeles.
This incident adds to a string of worrisome occurrences involving commercial flights in 2024. Earlier in January, an Alaska Airlines flight performed an emergency landing due to a blown-out window, while in April, a Boeing jet’s engine covering detached and struck a Southwest Airlines plane during takeoff in Denver.
Days prior to the emergency slide incident, multiple planes narrowly avoided collision on the JFK runway.
