Delta Boeing 767 jet that dropped emergency slide is 33 years old — well past normal age for active airliner: experts
NY Post
The Boeing jet that dropped an emergency slide after taking off from JFK Airport on Friday is 33 years old — well past the typical retirement age for a commercial jetliner, according to aviation experts.
The chute from Delta Flight 520 had detached from a panel above the right wing shortly after the Los Angeles-bound plane took off from JFK Airport in New York last Friday. The deflated slide was recovered Sunday after it washed up on the Rockaway peninsula, about six miles from JFK, as The Post exclusively reported.
According to data from Airfleets.net, the Boeing-made 767 jet is 33 years old — above a passenger plane’s typical lifespan of 20 to 25 years, longtime commercial pilot Scott Miller told The Post.
He said Boeing stopped delivering its 767 passenger planes a decade ago, though this model is still being used by the US military.
Miller said the incident was likely due to a latch failure, as the aging Boeing 767 only deploys the slide when the emergency exit door over the wing is open.
He declined to speculate whether the freak accident was because of the plane’s age or because Delta’s maintenance crew failed to realize there was a faulty latch before takeoff.
