A Delta Air Lines Boeing 757 lost part of its nose gear shortly before takeoff at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL).

"Rolled off the Runway"

On January 20, Delta Air Lines Flight DL982 was preparing for a regularly scheduled departure to Bogota, Colombia (BOG). This flight operates daily from Delta's largest hub of Atlanta (ATL) and usually takes around four hours. The flight is operated by a Boeing 757-200, an aircraft of which Delta is the largest passenger operator. 

On this particular day, the flight was operated by aircraft N672DL. This 757-200 was built in 1992, making it 32 years old at the time of this incident. The flight had been cleared for takeoff at 9:58 a.m. Eastern Time on Runway 27R. As the 757 was taxiing onto the runway, one of the nose gear tires reportedly came loose and rolled off.

Next in line to depart, the pilots of DL1783 to Willemstad, Curaçao (CUR), a Boeing 737-800, noticed the tire roll off and reported the following to the tower:

• DL1783: "Hey, Tower, the 75 on the runway just lost the nose tire."
• DL982: "Hey, thanks for that! Delta 982, Tower, sounds like we got a problem. Looks like we'll try to taxi clear if we could."
• ATL Tower: "Delta 982, Roger, if you'd like, start your taxi down the runway and just let me know."

The pilots of DL1783 reported that the nose tire rolled off the runway behind the 757 down the embankment. This prompted the DL982 flight crew to contact the maintenance department to see if they could tow the 757. Runway 27R was closed for all departures, and subsequent departures were rerouted to 27L.

Aftermath

The 757 sat on the runway for three hours before being towed off. Passengers onboard were reassigned to another aircraft, N6707A, to take them to Bogota. DL982 departed almost six hours late that day, around 3:24 p.m. Eastern Time.

It is unclear if the passengers were compensated for the inconvenience. Normally, if the airline is at fault (which, in this case, it is), passengers are entitled to compensation such as trip credits, refunds, or vouchers of various kinds. The incident aircraft, N672DL, has not flown since and continues to receive repairs in Atlanta. There is no specific time estimate on when it will return to service.

Delta CEO Ed Bastian noted that getting planes back into service following routine checks and maintenance has been taking much longer lately. This is because many aerospace companies that supply parts have continued to suffer from a loss of experience during the pandemic. There is simply a significantly decreased workforce that continues to cause delays and setbacks.

Considering this incident involved a Boeing aircraft, it will undoubtedly shadow even more distrust over the company. Despite this scenario being unrelated to the recent issues involving the Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft, the fact that this incident involved a Boeing jet might spur more controversy.