Delta Passengers Evacuated Via Emergency Slide After Tire Blows in Atlanta

Almost 200 Delta Air Lines passengers were evacuated from a plane at Georgia's Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport after a tire blew and parts of the landing gear were reported to be "hot."

The incident took place on August 2 aboard a Boeing 757-200 aircraft on flight 1437, a regularly scheduled service between Richmond in Virginia and Atlanta. The flight had 190 passengers onboard, according to Delta.

A spokesperson for Delta told Newsweek: "Reports indicate that one of the aircraft's tires blew upon landing and components of the landing gear were hot. Customers evacuated via emergency slides and are being moved to the terminal via bus. We apologize to each for this experience—nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and crew.

"We appreciate the efforts of our flight crew and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport first responders to manage through the safe landing of flight 1437 on Aug. 2," the spokesperson said.

Scenes from the evacuation were captured by a passenger aboard the flight in a viral video posted four days ago by TikTok user Kamari Mommy (@johniquec). The poster told Newsweek: "Our tire caught fire when we landed."

The video shows passengers walking towards the exit of the plane. A voice is heard saying: "Come forward...leave everything and jump the slide...come this way."

Delta will conduct an internal review of the flight and are focused on ensuring passengers receive their bags and belongings.

According to an outline of the Emergency Vacating of Aircraft Cabin (EVAC) Act proposed by U.S. senators Tammy Duckworth and Tammy Baldwin, U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations require that "in the event of an emergency, passengers can evacuate an aircraft within 90 seconds.

"However, recent FAA aircraft evacuation simulation tests have not included real life conditions," the outline said.

Duckworth—who is a pilot and member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation (CST) and Chair of the Subcommittee on Aviation Safety, Operations and Innovation—and Baldwin reintroduced the act in May. The act calls on the FAA to "establish evacuation standards that take real-life conditions into account like the presence of carry-on bags, children, seniors and passengers with disabilities."

Duckworth said in May: "Imagine being on a crowded flight when the worst-case scenario happens: the crew tells you that you have 90 seconds to evacuate—but how can more than 150 passengers on a crowded flight actually safely evacuate in less time than it takes to brush your teeth?"

"While we know that aviation is one of the safest ways to travel, we can't put our heads in the sand and ignore the risks that come with ever-growing numbers of passengers on each individual flight," Duckworth added.

A February 2022 study in Safety Science, which cited figures reported by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, said: "The survival rate of most air accidents is considerably high, but the fatality rate caused by technically survivable accidents is also very high.

"Therefore, keeping the efforts to saving lives in technically survivable accidents is one of the most significant problems in modern aviation," the study said.

In the latest viral clip, various passengers are shown going down a slide attached to the side of the aircraft, near the wing of the plane.

A voice in the video is heard saying "Yea, we got a flat tire..." as the clip shows what appears to be a deflated tire on the aircraft.

"They landed so hard...the f****** tire," the voice continues, the clip shows more shots of the deflated tire and passengers going down the slide, while others are standing on the tarmac. The clip ends as the aircraft is shown surrounded by several vehicles.

In a later video also shared four days ago, the poster said passengers were allowed to get back on the plane "when it was safe" to retrieve their carry-on bags.

For those who were traveling onwards, checked bags were forwarded to connecting flights. Those without connecting flights had the option of either waiting for their bags at the airport, "which took hours," or having their bags delivered, according to the poster.

In a video shared two days ago, the passenger in the video said that "immediately after everyone got off the plane," she received an email from Delta offering a "meal credit" worth $45, as well as "hotel credit" for those who had to stay overnight at the airport. The passenger later also received an email from Delta saying "they are going to refund me in four to six weeks..." she said.

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