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.’

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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