ATLANTA — A Delta jet that departed Atlanta for London on Wednesday reported smoke coming from one of its engines and returned safely to the airport where firefighters doused the engine with powerful sprays, authorities said.
ATLANTA — A Delta jet that departed Atlanta for London on Wednesday reported smoke coming from one of its engines and returned safely to the airport where firefighters doused the engine with powerful sprays, authorities said.
A Delta Air Lines spokeswoman, Liz Savadelis, said via email that there were 274 passengers and 14 crew members aboard the flight, which experienced an issue with its Number 2 engine before returning to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and being met by emergency crews.
Airport spokesman Andrew Gobeil told The Associated Press no one was hurt. Tweeted photographs on social media showed airport firefighting trucks blasting the jet’s right wing with billowing white sprays.
Airport tweet said “shortly after 6pm, smoke was reported coming from the engine of a departing aircraft. The aircraft immediately returned.” In a subsequent tweet, the airport said: “Units hosed down the aircraft’s smoking engine. The aircraft is being towed” with passengers back to the concourse.
Delta’s statement said passengers and crew disembarked safely.
“The airplane was towed to the gate, where customers deplaned through the jetway and will be accommodated on a different aircraft,” the statement said. It said the safety of passengers and crewmembers is Delta’s top priority and “we apologize to our customers on this flight.”
The Delta statement made no specific mention of engine smoke. Savadelis declined to comment on specifics of what happened when asked about that.
Airport authorities said the incident had “minimal impact” on airport operations.
The Delta incident comes a day after authorities in Philadelphia reported a woman was killed when she was partially blown out of a Southwest Airlines plane and died of blunt impact trauma. Seven others were also injured after the twin-engine 737 blew an engine at 30,000 feet Tuesday and got hit by shrapnel. Federal authorities say the woman was seated next to a window of the plane, which made an emergency landing in Philadelphia.
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An earlier version of this report had an incorrect spelling of the name of airport spokesman Andrew Gobeil.
