May 21 (UPI) — A Delta Air Lines flight that made an emergency landing in Atlanta in February had no visible oil in its right engine, the National Transportation Safety Board announced on Wednesday.
Delta Flight 876 was heading to South Carolina when it departed the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Feb. 24 but soon after returned for an emergency landing after smoke began filling the aircraft, CBS News reported.
Flight attendants noticed smoke entering the aircraft through a door and all of its vents during takeoff and tried to notify the flight’s pilots.
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A lead flight attendant told the Federal Aviation Administration the smoke made it impossible to see past the first row of seats on the Boeing 717-200 aircraft.
The pilots also notice smoking coming through the cockpit’s flooring and returned to the Atlanta airport to make an emergency landing shortly after taking off at 8:30 a.m. EST.
Separate alerts sounded due to the smoke and low oil pressure in the right engine, and the pilots shut down the engine before attempting the emergency landing.
The smoke was so thick that the pilots had to change their landing approach due to low visibility.
After safely landing, the Delta crew initiated an emergency evacuation to get passengers off the plane as quickly and safely as possible.
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Two passengers suffered minor injuries during the evacuation and were treated, the NTSB said.
An initial inspection showed no oil was visible in the right engine, which indicated an oil system failure in the Rolls-Royce BR715-C1engine.
The Boeing 717-200 has two such engines mounted on either side of its fuselage and behind the wings.
The aircraft was carrying 94 passengers, three flight attendants and two pilots during the brief flight.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing and involves an NTSB flight data recorder specialist and the FAA.
