Delta recovers emergency slide that separated from Boeing plane

James Powel, USA TODAY
Updated ·2 min read
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An emergency slide that fell from a Delta flight just a few minutes after takeoff has been recovered from the Atlantic Ocean in New York City.

The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation said that the airline recovered the slide on Sunday in a jetty near Beach 131st Street in Queens, about 10 miles from where the flight took off Friday at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

"As nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people, Delta flight crews enacted their extensive training and followed procedures to return to JFK," Delta said in a statement about the diverted plane issued Friday.

The company said that the plane landed safely and "it was observed that the emergency slide had separated from the aircraft," after returning to a gate.

The company confirmed the recovery of the slide Monday and referred to its earlier statement.

Flight returned due to alert crew

Flight 520 to Los Angeles returned to JFK after the flight crew saw an indicator light related to the right overwing exit and heard a "non-routine" sound near the right wing.

The crew also reported a vibration, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The flight was operated by a 33-year-old Boeing 767, according to data from Airfleets.net, and passengers were accommodated on a different flight later in the morning. There were 183 people aboard the flight.

The FAA said it is investigating the incident and Delta said it would cooperate with that investigation.

Contributing: Sara Al-Arshani, Eve Chen, Kathleen Wong

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Delta recovers emergency slide that separated from Boeing plane