Delta Airline’s Boeing 737 aircraft wing flap partially broke off before landing in Texas on Tuesday.

The Federal Aviation Administration has commenced an investigation into the incident.

Delta Air Lines Flight 1893 was flying from Orlando International to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport when passengers noticed something had partially broken away from the back of the wing.

“We felt it was bad turbulence. The plane was shaking,” passenger Shanila Arif told CNN. “The lady in front of us opened the window and told us it is broken. I opened the window and got scared.”

Video recorded by Arif showed the flap dangling behind the wing, as the plane flew at hundreds of miles an hour thousands of feet in the air.

She worried that if the piece completely broke off, it could hit the tail of the aircraft and cause a crash.

After landing, “it was observed that a portion of the left wing’s flap was not in place,” Delta Air Lines said in a statement. “The aircraft has been taken out of service for maintenance.”

Flaps are surfaces on the back of the wing designed to be extended for takeoff and landing.

“We apologize to our customers for their experience as nothing is more important than the safety of our people and customers,” the airline said.

There were 62 passengers and six crew members onboard the plane. No one was injured.

Delta pledged to fully cooperate with the FAA investigation.

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.

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