A Delta Air Lines Boeing 717, operating as Flight DL876 from Atlanta to Columbia, South Carolina was forced to make an emergency landing today after the cabin filled with smoke just after takeoff. The 25-year old ex-AirTran aircraft which was acquired from Southwest Airlines, had 94 passengers and 5 crew on board. Both the cockpit and passenger cabin became enveloped in thick grey haze.
Delta: Cleared for takeoff, 27 Right Delta 876.
Delta: Delta 876 Emergency.
ATC: Delta 876 State a request.
Delta: We’ve got smoke in the cabin and need to plan a return back.
ATC: Delta 876 contact 125.65 they’ll bring you back around.
Crew donned oxygen masks as the aircraft climbed through 2,000 feet and declared an emergency. They stopped their climb at 4,000 feet and returned to the airport where fire trucks met them on runway 27L about 10 minutes after their 8:30 a.m. takeoff. Everyone evacuated via slides.
Several passengers took carry-on bags with them during the evacuation, slowing the process. Two passengers were treated for minor injuries.
Naturally, Delta released a statement saying that “nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people.”
Delta Airlines DL876 (Boeing 717-200) experienced smoke in the cabin departing Atlanta this afternoon. They made a successful return to the airport. The tailcone slide was deployed by jettisoning the cone.
Audio via @liveatc and Bill B. https://t.co/gUJXDti8rn pic.twitter.com/4o8ugkNNd5
— Thenewarea51 (@thenewarea51) February 24, 2025
Here’s what it was like inside the passenger cabin as passengers evacuated the aircraft:
I don’t believe in karma but more than one person has commented to me that this incident, following the harrowing Toronto landing of one of their wholly-owned regional aircraft, comes after Delta failed to release a public statement of condolences following the American Airlines tragedy at National airport last month as others had done.
Premium.
The reason so many people take their stuff with them is because they don’t trust the airline or airport to return their stuff in a reasonable time frame after they’re done screwing around with the airplane.
You could be potentially stuck for days WITHOUT your stuff….or you may just be able to get a flight later that evening WITH your stuff.
I’m not saying it’s right but it’s how people think.
If you had to leave the plane with absolutely nothing but what was in your pockets, what would you do?
Former AirTran – strike 1
Former Southworst – strike 2
Delta……..
Often, people will take their carry-ons. It’s not foolishness, they’re just in some sort of state of shock and are not thinking rationally. I’m heading off the comments there will be about this aspect of the event.
@CHRIS No. The reason people take their stuff is prevent it from getting destroyed in a fire, or by flame retardant or whatever.
Ed only offers his condolences to passengers on other airlines if his BFF tells him to…
There are few women who will leave their purse behind, and anyone with important medicine in a carry-on is unlikely to leave that behind either. Anything in the overhead should stay, but small stuff under the seat is most likely going. And, once they have made the decision to pick it up, there’s no good place to get rid of it, especially at the exit.
As far as the incident itself, bleed air is susceptible to contamination from oil burning when it gets to places it shouldn’t be. The smoke has a number of nasty chemicals, which does require a quick return to avoid lethal exposure. There have been recent incidents which have suggested disabling bleed air during takeoff up to altitudes above where bird strikes are uncommon. Some airlines allow or require this, others do not. Some bird strikes don’t damage the engine enough to cause a noticable reduction in power, but may damage them enough to cause an oil leak. Forgetting to enable bleed air can result in a pressurization issue, which is one reason some airlines enable bleed air in the takeoff checklist.
If people insist on taking their carry-on, they should wait until all others have exited. The reasons to take their carry-on are varied and include poor and bad actions by airlines in similar situations in the past. Loss by fire is one situation. Loss by theft is another. Loss by incompetence is yet another. I doubt that many would take luggage in a water landing because the luggage could hamper survival. I have a waist bag on at all times with money and phones in it. It would be ditched in a water landing where I had to swim.
Quite a few years ago, I had a lost bag and the airline compensation was sub-standard. They insisted on depreciation on everything. Airlines should announce that they are offering full compensation for lost items when evacuating.
Airline employees probably steal stuff. I rented a car in Columbus, Ohio and went back about 3 minutes later. The car had been driven to a remote lot and they insisted that nothing was found. More likely, they did not find anything before I alerted the clerk but stole while looking in the center console.
There was no fire. By the time the plane landed, there was no danger. Evacuation was just precautionary. So no danger of evacuating with bags. It’s not like there was fire.
@CHRIS: Make sure my pockets have the important stuff: medications, wallet, phone, camera.Fly with big/many pockets (guyabera shirts are great).
@CHRIS
“You could be potentially stuck for days WITHOUT your stuff….or you may just be able to get a flight later that evening WITH your stuff.”
The latter should not be allowed: the airlines should impose lifetime bans on anyone who tries to retrieve their carry-on during an evacuation. No exceptions.
@Samus Aran
Airlines should be permanently banned from flying if they don’t compensate for lost luggage.
@Richard
Absolutely. I could survive. Wallet, passports, phone etc is in my pocket. Phone charger is in my jacket pocket which I wear until we take off then it goes under the seat.