Delta Airlines passengers evacuate on slides after smoke fills cabin

Barely one week after Delta Airlines jet flipped on its roof while landing at Toronto’s Pearson Airport, another incident has been recorded again as the airline’s passengers were forced to evacuate after smoke filled the cabin at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Monday.

The Boeing 717-200 was headed to Columbia Metropolitan Airport, South Carolina, when haze overwhelmed the cabin.

The flight landed at around 9 am – and all 94 passengers, two pilots and three flight attendants on board were forced to flee the aircraft using the emergency exit slides.

Shocking images showed multiple travellers standing on the left wing of the aircraft, desperately holding onto their belongings, as they fled the smoke-filled Delta plane.

Delta Air Lines Flight 876 returned safely to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport around 9 a.m. local time on Monday, February 24, after the crew reported possible smoke in the flight deck,’ the Federal Aviation Administration said.

Crew members reported the haze shortly after takeoff and an emergency was declared to get priority handling from air traffic control.

‘The flight crew followed procedures to return to Atlanta when a haze inside the aircraft was observed after departure,’ a Delta spokesperson said.

‘Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people, and we apologize to our customers for the experience.’