On Monday morning, February 24th, a Delta Air Lines flight in the United States discovered smoke in the cabin shortly after takeoff, prompting a return to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stated that on Monday morning Eastern Time, Delta Air Lines Flight 876 crew reported “possible smoke in the cockpit,” forcing the flight to return to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport around 9 AM.
The flight was en route from Atlanta to Columbia, South Carolina when the incident occurred.
A spokesperson for Delta Air Lines stated in a release, “When smoke was detected inside the aircraft after takeoff, the crew returned to Atlanta according to procedures.”
“Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and crew, and we apologize to customers for this experience,” the statement added.
Delta Air Lines mentioned that the aircraft involved was a Boeing 717-200, carrying 94 passengers, two pilots, and three flight attendants.
After a safe landing on Runway 27 at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, emergency slides were deployed for passenger evacuation.
According to the airport authorities, the Atlanta Fire Rescue team assisted passengers off the plane, causing “moderate operational impact”.
Delta Air Lines arranged ground transportation for the passengers of this flight and rebooked their flights.
According to the registration information of the aircraft involved, the authorities deemed the Boeing 717 aircraft airworthy on September 16, 1999.
The Federal Aviation Administration stated that they will investigate this incident.
Just under two days before this incident, on Saturday night, another Delta Air Lines flight from Los Angeles, California to Sydney, Australia encountered a similar issue. Smoke was found in the kitchen of the Airbus A350-900 aircraft, forcing the flight to return to Los Angeles International Airport for a safe landing. The flight was carrying 162 passengers.