Engine issue forces Delta flight bound for MSP to abort takeoff from Atlanta
ATLANTA — Four people were injured on Friday morning after an engine issue forced emergency evacuations on a Delta plane bound for Minneapolis.
According to a statement from the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the aircraft aborted takeoff around 9:10 a.m. Passengers then used the emergency slides to deplane and were taken to a nearby concourse.
During the incident, four people suffered minor injuries. One person was transported, while the three others were treated at the scene, airport officials said.
"At first you're just thinking, is this real life? Is this what's actually going on? People next to me were trying to call loved ones," said Maple Grove resident Curtis James, who was on the plane.
Delta says an engine issue forced an emergency stop during takeoff, and an evacuation of the entire Boeing 757-300 onto the freezing tarmac.
"It was just a very surreal time, and a very big awakening of how fleeting life can be sometimes," James said.
Other passengers, like Allison Wade, documented the moments after the evacuation on video.
"I just realized how blessed we really were, the engine caught fire, failed [or] whatever, that it happened before we actually started ascending before we were in the air," Wade said.
The passengers were put on different plane, which landed in Minneapolis late Friday.
Atlanta is under a Winter Storm Warning until Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service. Operations at the airport were delayed due to the incident and the ongoing weather.