Nose wheel falls off Boeing 757 as Delta Air Lines flight prepares to take off from Atlanta airport

The plane was taxiing for departure when the wheel "came off and rolled down the hill". Almost 200 passengers were on board at the time, but no one was hurt.

Wednesday 24 January 2024 14:32, UK

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A nose wheel fell off a Boeing 757 jet that was taxiing on the runway with 184 passengers on board at Atlanta's international airport.

The wheel "came off and rolled down the hill" as the Delta Air Lines flight was waiting to take off, according to a report from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

A spokesperson for Delta confirmed a "nose gear tire came loose from the landing gear" on the plane scheduled to fly from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to Bogota, Colombia.

"All customers and their bags were removed from the aircraft, transferred to the gate and on to a replacement aircraft," the spokesperson told Paste BN.

"We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience," they added.

None of the 184 passengers or six crew members were hurt in the incident, according to the FAA's preliminary report.

Boeing declined to comment and directed questions to the airline.

The nose gear mishap on Saturday comes as Boeing faces scrutiny after a panel on one of its planes blew out in mid-air earlier this month.

Nobody was seriously injured in the blowout on the Alaska Airlines flight, but the FAA grounded 171 Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes and launched a safety investigation.

Ben Minicucci, the head of Alaska Airlines, told Paste BN' US partner network NBC News that he was "angry" about the 5 January incident and said internal checks found "many" loose bolts on their Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes.