Following a Delta flight
an emergency landing in Atlanta
In February, a maintenance team discovered that there was scarcely any oil, or perhaps none at all, visible in the aircraft’s right engine, according to an initial report from the National Transportation Safety Board issued on Wednesday.
Delta Air Lines Flight 876 was headed to South Carolina following takeoff from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on February 24. Shortly after ascending, “potential smoke” began permeating the cockpit.
Federal Aviation Administration
said at the time.
Based on the initial report from the NTSB, both the flight attendants at the front and those in the back of the plane observed smoke seeping through a doorway and “emanating from every vent” during takeoff. Despite their attempts to notify the cockpit crew, they did not receive an immediate acknowledgment.
The chief flight attendant stated that the smoke was so dense “he could not even glimpse beyond the initial row of seats,” according to the report. It was then that he banged on the cockpit entrance. At this point, the pilots also disclosed observing smoke billowing up from the rear section of the cockpit floor and heard the flight attendants attempting to reach them.
The NTSB report stated, “They put on their oxygen masks and temporarily postponed answering the flight attendants’ calls, since the captain was concentrating on operating the aircraft while the first officer informed air traffic control about the emergency.”
The aircraft ultimately touched down safely, and approximately 100 passengers were disembarked, according to the report.
After the incident, when maintenance staff inspected the aircraft, they discovered that “there was no observable oil in the sight glass of the right engine reservoir,” suggesting that the oil had been completely used up or was almost depleted, as stated in the NTSB report. According to the document, the Boeing 717-200 involved was fitted with Rolls-Royce engines.
Initially, it wasn’t evident if the reserve for the right engine oil was in such condition prior to takeoff, with the NTSB’s probe continuing.
The initial NTSB report was one of several investigative documents the agency published on Wednesday. This release follows increased worries within the FAA after prominent issues, such as significant delays at airports.
Newark International Airport
and the
deadly midair collision
Between a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Eagle flight over the Potomac River in January.
