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More than 200 passengers on a Delta Air Lines flight bound for Minneapolis-St. Paul had a scary and abrupt end to their flight before it even got off the ground at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
Just as the plane was accelerating for takeoff,an engine issue was reported,forcing passengers to use the emergency slides to de-plane and hit the snowy tarmac.
Some passengers shared pictures and video from the scene on social media,calling it terrifying but also thanking Delta staff for the quick exit from the plane. Another video showed passengers walking across the snow-covered tarmac,after a bus reportedly could not get out to them because of the weather conditions.
Atlanta airport officials said four people had minor injuries,with one person transported to a hospital while the others were treated at the scene.
In a statement to Weathernow24.com Delta Airlines said "Delta’s flight crew followed established procedures to suspend the takeoff of flight 2668 from Atlanta (ATL) to Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) after an indication of an engine issue. Nothing is more important than the safety of our people and customers,and we apologize to our customers for their experience. We are working to support our customers and get them to their destinations as safely and quickly as possible."
The airline confirmed that 201 passengers,two pilots and five flight attendants were on the flight.
The incident coincided with the first significant snowfall in the Atlanta metro area in three years,with an average of 4 inches of snow blanketing the region Friday morning. Hundreds of flights in and out of Hartsfield Airport were canceled or delayed,according to FlightAware.com and this Delta incident led to further delays.
