Delta Flight Forced To Land At JFK With Blown Engine

A Moscow-bound Delta flight had a scare this evening after a blown engine forced it to land back at JFK. Initial reports claimed that Delta Flight 30 had an engine fire, and some of the 193 people on board called 911 claiming to see flames or sparks. The plane circled around JFK dumping fuel; although the plane could fly with just one engine working, it was told to come back to the airport. Nobody was hurt, and now reports say that the blown engine may have been caused by a "bird strike," similar to what happened to U.S. Airways Flight 1549.

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By Ben Yakas in News on November 21, 2010 7:30 PM

Comments [rss]

chris0568

I had driven to JFK from the Hartford, CT area to pick up my in-laws who were returning from Brazil. As I was driving close to Terminal 4, I watched an airplane taking off to my left side (Delta Flight 30). As it climbed, I saw a shower/brief burst of sparks come out of the back of the left engine and a trail of black smoke followed. That's all I saw, as I was busy driving. The plane was not on fire and the burst of sparks lasted a split second. End of story.

clarice13

About a year ago I was on a Delta flight from Las Vegas to New York when the left engine literally exploded 40,000 feet in the air. There was smoke and flames shooting out of the engine. I'll never forget the sound of grinding metal coming to a stop and the way the plane started to teeter back & forth. We made an emergency landing in Chicago and got put up in hotels and re-booked on other flights the next day. I had to call Delta to get any sort of compensation for my "troubles." They gave me a $100 voucher towards another crappy Delta flight. After the incident where the Delta pilots overshot the airport by like 100 miles, each passenger received a $500 credit! Hmmmm...someone in their PR department needs to be fired.

AdamNYC

"It was told to return to JFK" -- ?!?!?! Really? Was this written by a child? That is not how these things work. The plane would be turning around to return to the airport before the air traffic controllers even knew what was going on. The pilots would tell THEM they were returning to the airport... not the other way around. Get it together, Gothamist, and spare us the drama!

Rocknrope

Seriously, calm the fuck down.

Subduction

Actually, you're coming off as strangely more dramatic as anything in the article.

I'm not even sure how you feel that version of events is meant to be more dramatic, or even dramatic at all.

I think the lesson here has something more to do with lithium, and staying on it...

jkfoto

That would be US Airways flight 1549.

sj

What kind of idiot calls 911 to report that an engine of their plane is on fire? How about notify the flight crew instead (though I'm sure the flight deck crew knew as soon as it happened).

Sulayman

Add to that the cell phone is supposed to stay off for fear of interference with the pilot's communications. (It's generally accepted by experts in and outside the FCC to be safe but still)

youngpro

eh, the pilots probably knew about it just as fast as the passengers. the passengers probably just acted on instinct.

also. yakas, bird strike has been ruled out