Nose wheel falls off Delta Boeing 757 passenger jet moments before takeoff
Global News
In what is only the latest instance of bad press for Boeing, the plane's nose wheel 'came off and rolled down the hill' as the aircraft was waiting to take off.
The nose wheel of a Delta Air Lines Boeing 757 passenger jet fell off and rolled away as the aircraft waited on the runway for takeoff clearance at Atlanta’s major airport on Saturday.
In what is only the latest instance of bad press for Boeing, the wheel “came off and rolled down the hill” at Georgia’s Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport shortly after 11:15 a.m. local time. A preliminary report from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Monday said none of the 184 passengers or six crew members were injured.
The passengers onboard Delta Flight 982 to the Colombian capital of Bogotá were removed from the compromised plane. The passengers and their baggage were returned to airport’s terminal via buses, and later boarded a new plane for a delayed departure, according to the New York Times.
In a statement, Boeing apologized “to our customers for the inconvenience.”
The airline said the plane was put back into service the next day following repairs. The FAA released air traffic control audio from the incident, which sees another pilot in a nearby plane alerting Delta Flight 982 and an air traffic controller about the lost wheel.
“Hey … the 75 on the runway just lost a nose tire,” the pilot informed, later adding that he saw the wheel roll off the runway and down a nearby embankment.
The pilot of Delta Flight 982 thanked the other pilot and quipped that it “sounds like we’ve got a problem.”
Delta Flight 982, which was taxiing down the runway, stopped to wait for a maintenance crew.