The Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) indicated this Tuesday that it will carry out an investigation, after a front wheel of a Delta airline Boeing 757 plane lost its front wheel, when it was preparing to take off from Atlanta, Georgia. , bound for Bogotá, Colombia, last Saturday.
The incident occurred at the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, when flight DL982 bound for Bogotá was on the runway during the maneuver prior to takeoff.
ABC News reported on the decision to begin the investigation.
The aircraft was scheduled to take off at 9:35 am (local time).
A Boeing 757 aircraft of the Delta airline.Getty Images
In a recording, which was included in a report prepared by the FAA, the voice of one of the air traffic controllers can be heard alerting the pilots that the aircraft had lost one of the tires: "One of the front wheels just came loose. and rolled off the track," he said.
"Sounds like we have a problem," the pilot responds.
The VAS Aviation YouTube channel published the audio of the incident with a video, where another pilot who was on the runway can be heard
notifying the Delta commander
and the control tower about the loss of the tire.
"Delta Flight 982 ATL/BOG was taxiing for takeoff when a nose wheel came loose from the landing gear," a Delta Airlines spokesperson told Newsweek.
The incident delayed the flight, whose passengers and luggage were returned to the terminal.
The travelers ended up taking another aircraft, according to the FAA report.
The incident, in which there were no injuries, comes just after the FAA announced on Thursday, January 11, that it was investigating Boeing after an Alaska Airlines flight was forced
to make an emergency landing
after losing part of the fuselage. at 16,000 feet high.
"This incident should never have happened and cannot happen again," the FAA said in a statement issued then.
The federal agency said it had notified Boeing of its investigation, which will look into whether the company "failed to ensure that finished products met their approved design and were fit for safe operation in accordance with FAA regulations."
"This investigation comes after the incident on a Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft, which lost a piece similar to a passenger door," the statement reads.
"Boeing's manufacturing practices must meet the high safety standards that (the company) is responsible for meeting."
The FAA had already ordered
some Boeing 737 Max 9 planes to be temporarily grounded
for inspections after the incident, which affected some 171 aircraft worldwide.
Several companies, Alaska and United Airlines, had suspended flights operated with these models.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation into the incident, is focusing on figuring out why the piece detached during the flight.
There were no serious injuries and there were no passengers sitting in the two seats next to the fallen panel.
On December 29 of last year, before the Alaska Airlines incident, the FAA and Boeing urged airlines to inspect their 737-9 (MAX) for any loose parts.
Both Alaska and United have acknowledged that in the first inspections carried out on their devices
they have found screws and other loose components
.
The Alaska Airlines aircraft that suffered the incident lost the panel with which a hole designed to house an
additional emergency
door had been sealed , a common measure on planes that make trips with a low number of passengers.
The plane was forced to return to the city of Portland, Oregon, where it had taken off, a few minutes after taking off.