Discuss an air-head moment!
A Delta flight from JFK to Los Angeles on Saturday made an unscheduled landing in Utah on account of technical difficulties — only to have an air slide unintentionally deploy contained in the plane once it was on the bottom.
A crew member was hit unexpectedly by the “exploding” air slide at taken to the hospital.
The B767-300 was en path to LAX from JFK with 168 passengers aboard when the aircraft’s pilot announced that the plane would want to land in Salt Lake City on account of technical difficulties.
A backup system’s temperature instrument was on the fritz that was needed for icing conditions, the captain said.
The flight, which left NYC after 7 a.m., landed without incident, and passengers were asked to deplane.
After a delay, the temperature instrument was fixed and the plane was — seemingly — able to take off again at about 1 p.m. Utah time.
That’s when things shockingly took a slide — literally.
After passengers reboarded the aircraft and were able to go, an inflatable slide on the rear of the plane was unintentionally deployed contained in the plane while it was still on the gate — hitting a Delta crew member, who was taken to the hospital, sources told the Post.
One passenger described the slide as “exploding” contained in the plane, while one other said the crew had armed a rear door, and that the air slide forced a panel out of the door when it unintentionally deployed, striking the crew member “like an airbag” of a automotive.
Sources said the slide hit the unnamed crew member in the top and that the slide had been one way or the other unintentionally deployed by a plane’s catering crew.
Passengers were seen coming off the plane shaken and peeved.
They were finally booked on a secondary aircraft that was scheduled to depart Utah for LA at 4 p.m. Mountain time.
No word on the condition of the crew member.
A Delta spokesperson said in an announcement when reached for comment: “Delta flight 520, operating from Latest York-JFK to Los Angeles diverted to Salt Lake City on account of a maintenance issue.”
The rep added, “While on the bottom, the identical aircraft’s slide was deployed by accident. In an effort to get our customers to their final destination as quickly and safely as possible, they’ve been re-accommodated on a recent aircraft. We apologize for the delay to their traveling plans. Nothing is more necessary than the security of our customers and other people.”
Passengers got 7,500 miles by the airline for the inconvenience.
