A Boeing commercial aircraft lost a front wheel as it was attempting to prepare for takeoff on Saturday, Delta Airlines confirmed to Newsweek.
The incident took place on Saturday morning at Georgia's Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The flight, number DL982 bound for Bogota, Colombia, was taxiing on the runway to prepare for takeoff when it was discovered that its front nose wheel had fallen off and rolled away. This resulted in a delay for the international flight as the situation was resolved.
The incident comes amid a recent trend of stories about Boeing aircraft experiencing technical issues. Earlier this month, Alaska Airlines grounded its entire fleet of Boeing 737 Max 9 crafts after a portion of the fuselage of one of them broke off from a flight shortly after takeoff, requiring an emergency landing at Portland International in Oregon. This later prompted the FAA to ground a further 170 737 crafts across the industry for inspection. Images from the interior of the craft went viral across social media, sparking concern about the safety of Boeing crafts.
"Delta Flight 982 ATL/BOG was taxiing for departure when a nose wheel tire came loose from the gear," a spokesman for Delta Airlines told Newsweek. "All customers and their bags were removed from the aircraft, transferred to the gate, and onto a replacement aircraft. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience."
According to flight records, DL982 was scheduled to depart at 9:45 a.m. ET, but was delayed until 10:53 a.m. It ultimately arrived in Bogota at 3:23 p.m. ET.
Audio from the incident was obtained by the VAS Aviation YouTube channel for a video about the incident. In it, another pilot on the runway can be heard advising the Delta pilot and air traffic control that the Boeing 757 had lost a nose tire, noting that it had rolled away and fallen off the runway into an embankment.
"Hey, thanks for that," an air traffic control worker can be heard saying. "Delta 982, sounds like we got a problem."
Newsweek reached out to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) via email for comment.
"Safety is our top priority and we deeply regret the impact this event has had on our customers and their passengers," Boeing said in a statement after the incident. "We agree with and fully support the FAA's decision to require immediate inspections of 737-9 airplanes with the same configuration as the affected airplane. In addition, a Boeing technical team is supporting the NTSB's investigation into last night's event. We will remain in close contact with our regulator and customers."
When reached by Newsweek on Tuesday, Boeing declined to comment and deferred to Delta for an official statement on the incident in Atlanta.
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Thomas Kika is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in upstate New York. His focus is reporting on crime and national ... Read more
