() A Delta Air Lines flight from Orlando landed safely in Austin on Tuesday after a portion of its wing partially detached midair.
Passengers aboard Flight 1893, a Boeing 737, noticed an unusual occurrence as the plane was making its way down to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport; a piece of the left wing seemed to have become detached, reported KXAN.
Passenger Shanila Arif recorded video footage from her window seat showing the flap swaying as the plane flew thousands of feet above the ground.
“As we were flying at roughly 12,000 feet, we observed part of the wing appeared to break away,” a passenger told KXAN. “This was a significant safety concern.”
The plane touched down without any issues, and Delta confirmed to KXAN that upon arrival, they discovered “a segment of the left wing’s flap was not where it should be.”
The airline said the plane has been removed from service for maintenance.
“We sincerely apologize to our customers for the situation, as safety remains our utmost priority for everyone on board,” a Delta representative stated.
There were 62 passengers and six crew members on board the flight, and no injuries were reported.
String of Boeing 737 Max incidents
This incident is part of ongoing troubles with the Max model of Boeing’s popular 737 aircraft. These problems have lingered for the company since tragic crashes in Indonesia in 2018 and Ethiopia in 2019 resulted in the deaths of 346 people combined.
Investigations found that those accidents were due to a system malfunctioning from a faulty sensor reading, causing the nose to tip downward uncontrollably. Following the second crash, Max planes were grounded globally until the system was overhauled by the company.
In May, the Justice Department reached a deal allowing Boeing to avoid criminal prosecution for allegedly misleading U.S. regulators about the Max before the two crashes.
However, Federal Aviation Administration regulators have capped Boeing’s 737 Max production at 38 jets per month while investigators ensure the company has strengthened its safety practices.
Tom Dempsey and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
