A Delta Air Lines flight that departed from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City was forced to make an emergency return to the airport Friday morning after an emergency slide came apart from the Boeing 767, the airline said. A search for the slide was ongoing.
“After the aircraft had safely landed and proceeded to a gate, it was observed that the emergency slide had separated from the aircraft,” a Delta spokesperson said in a statement to NPR Friday afternoon.
In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration said Delta Flight 520 “returned safely to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York around 8:35 a.m. local time on Friday, April 26, after the crew reported a vibration. The FAA will investigate.”
The Delta spokesperson said the airline “is fully supporting retrieval efforts and will fully cooperate in investigations.”
In an earlier statement, Delta said the flight crew had observed a “flight deck indication related to the right wing emergency exit slide, as well as a sound from near the right wing.”
The plane, a Boeing 767-300 that was delivered to Delta in 1990, was on its way to Los Angeles International Airport, but had to return to JFK about an hour into the flight, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking site.
A passenger who was aboard the flight and did not wish to be identified while still in transit told NPR that there was a very loud sound coming from the plane, which made it difficult to hear announcements coming from the cockpit.
The passenger told NPR they felt “overwhelmed” and “really scared” by the experience.
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