New setback for Boeing. The black streak affecting the American manufacturer does not seem to want to stop. Open cargo hold, torn door, reactor on fire… and now loss of an emergency slide in mid-flight. On Friday, a Delta Airlines airliner flying from New York to Los Angeles was forced to turn around shortly after taking off, the American press reported. The reason ? The pilots felt an unusual vibration shaking their Boeing 767, listed as having been manufactured in 1990. A version confirmed by the Federal Aviation Administration and by the company, which specifies that the pilots had received an alert regarding the emergency slide located on the right side of the plane.
On board there were 176 passengers, two pilots and five other crew members. Delta Airlines assures that it has found another flight to California for all travelers. The aircraft was taken out of service while it was inspected. The slide is still nowhere to be found. “As nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and staff, Delta crews implemented their extensive training and followed procedures to return to New York’s JFK Airport,” the airline said air in a press release.
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Unlike other Boeing models, the 767 was previously spared from the series of incidents. In January, Boeing’s medium-haul aircraft (the 737 Max) was the only one under investigation by the FAA (American Civil Aviation Administration) and the FBI; today, long-haul aircraft of Boeing (the 777 and the 787 Dreamliner) are also in the eye of the storm. A whistleblower from the ranks of the American manufacturer having expressed doubts about the reliability of the assembly processes on these two devices.
