Delta recovers emergency slide that separated from Boeing plane
An emergency slide that fell from a Delta flight just a few minutes after takeoff has been recovered from the Atlantic Ocean in New York City.
The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation said that the airline recovered the slide on Sunday in a jetty near Beach 131st Street in Queens, about 10 miles from where the flight took off Friday at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
"As nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people, Delta flight crews enacted their extensive training and followed procedures to return to JFK," Delta said in a statement about the diverted plane issued Friday.
The company said that the plane landed safely and "it was observed that the emergency slide had separated from the aircraft," after returning to a gate.
The company confirmed the recovery of the slide Monday and referred to its earlier statement.
Flight returned due to alert crew
Flight 520 to Los Angeles returned to JFK after the flight crew saw an indicator light related to the right overwing exit and heard a "non-routine" sound near the right wing.
The crew also reported a vibration, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The flight was operated by a 33-year-old Boeing 767, according to data from Airfleets.net, and passengers were accommodated on a different flight later in the morning. There were 183 people aboard the flight.
The FAA said it is investigating the incident and Delta said it would cooperate with that investigation.
Separated slide latest in Boeing parts problems
The separated slide is the latest in a series of parts failures that led to increased regulatory scrutiny and seeing company culture excoriated by a whistleblower in Senate hearings.
Earlier this month, an engine cowling fell off a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-800 during takeoff, causing the flight headed for Houston to turn back, according to the FAA in Denver.
In March, an FAA audit of Boeing and subcontractor Spirit AeroSystems “found multiple instances where the companies allegedly failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements.”
In February, the National Transit Safety Board reported that an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft was missing four bolts in a mid-cabin door plug that led to an explosive decompression that sparked the audit.
The same month, a 737-800 flown by United Airlines was diverted from Houston to Atlanta after the crew reported a potential engine issue. The incident occurred days after a different 737-800 was forced to land in Denver due to a cracked windshield.
Contributing: Sara Al-Arshani, Eve Chen, Kathleen Wong