More than 200 people were forced to evacuate a Delta Airlines flight in Atlanta on Friday morning after the plane suffered an engine issue during takeoff, the airline said.
Flight 2668 to Minneapolis abruptly aborted its takeoff at 9:10 a.m. Clips circulating on social media show some of the Boeing 757-300’s 201 passengers exiting down the inflatable emergency slides and frantically running across the snowy tarmac. And video from a plane spotter captured the moment that the plane came to an abrupt halt during takeoff.
Four passengers on the plane reported minor injuries, one of whom required transportation for medical attention. The three others were treated at the scene, an airport spokesperson said in a statement to HuffPost.
The incident and weather delayed all operations at the airport for several hours as the aircraft and runway were cleared, Delta said. The ground delay was later extended by the Federal Aviation Administration due to the ongoing winter weather.
In audio from air traffic control, the pilot can be heard reporting fire and smoke coming from a rear engine.
Delta attributed the cause of the evacuation to an “engine issue.”
“Nothing is more important than the safety of our people and customers, and we apologize to our customers for their experience,” a Delta spokesperson said in a statement. “We are working to support our customers and get them to their destinations as safely and quickly as possible.”
Local plane spotter Matt Cochran said he was at the airport filming aircraft taking off in the snow when he captured the aborted flight on video.
“Today is the first time we’ve had snow in many years, so I made it my mission to be out there shooting the action in the winter weather,” he told HuffPost in an email. “I can’t believe I witnessed not only a rejected takeoff (which is very violent) but also an evacuation onto the runway.”
According to the flight tracking website Flightradar24, the plane had reached a speed of 85 knots, or nearly 98 mph, when the takeoff was aborted.
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In his footage of the incident, Cochran asks aloud when the pilot is going to “rotate” — aviation-speak for taking off. But the jet never pulls up.
“The point that plane was at on the runway is usually where they begin to lift off. Takeoff speed for a 757 is probably in the 130-140 mph range. So suddenly aborting would’ve been REALLY violent at that speed.”
The Atlanta region was blanketed in inches of snow as of Friday, in a rare winter storm that cancelled hundreds of flights.