Moment emergency air slide deploys on Delta flight bound for Los Angeles after it crash-landed in Salt Lake City
- A Delta flight from NYC to LA was diverted to Salt Lake City due to a mechanical problem
- After the problem was corrected and the passengers were back on the plane, one of the rear emergency slides accidentally activated
- Passengers were again forced to disembark and wait to be rebooked on another flight to their final destination
Passengers aboard a Delta flight to Los Angeles suffered a double blow during their flight on Saturday when the plane was forced to make its first emergency landing in Salt Lake City, after which the plane’s emergency slide accidentally activated.
Delta Flight 520 from New York to Los Angeles was diverted to Salt Lake City due to a maintenance issue, a Delta spokesperson said.
The pilot said the temperature instrument of the 26-year-old plane’s backup system was not working – the instrument is needed for icing.
Once on the ground, all 168 passengers on the plane had to disembark while the problem was rectified.
However, when the passengers were back on the plane, the emergency slide at the rear of the ship accidentally activated, hitting a crew member in the head. The slide was reportedly deployed accidentally by the aircraft’s catering crew.
An image of the emergency slide after it was accidentally deployed. One passenger said it looked like the plane had collapsed on itself
Shocked and confused passengers had to evacuate the plane again.
One of the passengers on board the plane described the slide as “exploding” inside the vehicle, while another explained that the air slide suddenly inflated after crew members armed the rear door.
As it grew, it forced a panel out the door, hitting the crew member “like an airbag.”
The crew member was taken to hospital and later discharged.
A passenger aboard the cursed flight, Fiona Kane, told the story ABC7 that the whole incident was “super chaotic and they (the crew) didn’t really tell us what happened.”
“I had no idea it was the slide that was deployed. It looked like the plane had completely collapsed.’
“All the passengers were in a state of fear and confusion and the flight attendants didn’t really know what was going on either,” she said.
A Delta flight bound for Los Angeles was forced to land in Salt Lake City, Utah on Saturday, where the emergency slide suddenly deployed, hitting a crew member in the head
The flight’s catering crew somehow accidentally deployed the inflatable slide – which promptly hit an unnamed crew member in the head. Shown here is an inflatable slide deployed in an airplane in 2003
In a statement, a Delta spokesperson said: “Delta Flight 520, operating from New York-JFK to Los Angeles, has been diverted to Salt Lake City due to a maintenance issue.
On the ground, the carriage of the same aircraft was accidentally activated.
‘To bring our customers to their final destination as quickly and safely as possible, they have been accommodated in a new aircraft.
“We apologize for the delay in their travel plans. Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people.’
Passengers were eventually all booked on another plane to Los Angeles.
Passengers were credited 7,500 miles by the airline.