A Delta Air Lines flight taxiing to take off from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport heading for Colombia on Saturday was delayed after the Boeing 757 lost a tire.
A tire from one of the landing gear wheels at the nose of the plane came off, a mishap noticed by air traffic control and other planes.
“Delta 982, this is the aircraft looking at you. One of your nose tires just came off. It just rolled off the runway behind you,” the pilot of Delta Air Lines Flight 1783 said to both the control tower and the other Delta pilot, per audio from LiveATC.net uploaded on YouTube.
The passengers departed the Delta 982 plane and were bused back to the airport terminal, reported the Federal Aviation Administration, which didn’t say how many had been aboard.
The plane, originally slated to leave at 9:55 a.m., was delayed for hours before finally taking off for Bogota at 3:25 p.m., according to flight tracking website FlightAware.
“We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience,” Delta Air Lines told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The FAA is investigating the incident.
Boeing remains under scrutiny following the dramatic blowout of a panel in the fuselage of a Boeing 737 Max 9 on an Alaska Airlines flight on Jan. 5. More than 170 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft were ordered grounded by the FAA as a result of that incident.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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