'Sounds like we've got a problem': Delta Air Lines flight loses tire just before takeoff
A Delta Air Lines flight had to turn around before ever leaving Atlanta on Saturday when their plane lost a tire on the front landing gear.
A recording posted to the VASAviation YouTube page, which publishes air traffic control radio broadcasts, captured the moment the pilot in the plane behind Delta flight 982 reported the incident to the tower.
“Tower, sounds like we’ve got a problem,” the pilots of the incident aircraft are heard saying.
“Delta Flight 982 (from Atlanta to Bogota) was taxiing for departure when a nose gear tire came loose from the landing gear. All customers and their bags were removed from the aircraft, transferred to the gate and onto a replacement aircraft. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience,” Delta said in a statement.
According to the airline, the incident remains under investigation and the plane was repaired and returned to service on Sunday.
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Flight 982 was originally operated by a 32 year old Boeing 757, according to FlightRadar24 and Planespotters.net.
Boeing has been under intense scrutiny following the explosive decompression of an Alaska Airlines flight earlier this month, but the 757 family of aircraft is not implicated in the company’s current headaches, and Delta Air Lines does not fly any of the 737 Max aircraft that are.
Zach Wichter is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in New York. You can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Delta, FAA investigating Boeing 757 that lost nose wheel in Atlanta
