A Delta Boeing 737 Max plane lost its nose wheel just moments before it was set to take off Saturday from the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport.
Delta Boeing plane loses nose tire moments before takeoff: 'Rolled off the runway' https://t.co/AUuSN49h4r
— FOX 5 DC (@fox5dc) January 23, 2024
The report published by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) states that the incident happened around 11:15 a.m. and that the plane was heading to El Dorado International Airport in Bogota, Columbia.
In the air traffic control audio, a controller can be heard alerting the pilot of the situation, saying, “One of your nose tires just came off; it just rolled off the runway behind you,” as reported by ABC News.
In a statement, Delta officials said, “A nose wheel tire came loose from the landing gear.”
“All customers and their bags were removed from the aircraft, transferred to the gate, and onto a replacement aircraft. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience,” the statement continued. No injuries related to the situation have been reported.
The FAA has started an investigation into the incident.
This incident comes weeks after a door plug fell out of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 plane and the aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing.
The FAA launched a formal investigation into the Boeing 737 Max 9 model and ordered the grounding of all Boeing 737 Max 9 planes.
Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said Tuesday that in-house inspections of the Boeing 737 Max 9 found “many” loose bolts on the planes.
“I’m more than frustrated and disappointed,” he told NBC News. “I am angry. This happened to Alaska Airlines. It happened to our guests and happened to our people. And — my demand on Boeing is what are they going to do to improve their quality programs in-house.”
Lawmakers are also questioning Boeing’s quality control systems.
“Given the previous tragic crashes of Boeing 737 Max aircraft, we are deeply concerned that the loose bolts represent a systemic issue with Boeing’s capabilities to manufacture safe airplanes,” Senators Ed Markey (D-MA), J.D. Vance (R-OH) and Peter Welch (D-VT) wrote to Boeing.
Congress needs to investigate what’s going on. We can’t tolerate these safety problems with one of our most popular planes. https://t.co/p5nKTe4mKT
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) January 9, 2024
