Posted on 08/22/2025 7:58:11 AM PDT by Red Badger
The Federal Aviation Administration has launched an investigation after the wing flap on a Delta Air Lines aircraft partially broke during a flight.
Delta Air Lines Flight 1893, a Boeing 737, was flying from Orlando International Airport to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport when passengers noticed something had partially broken away from the back of the wing.
“After landing it was observed that a portion of the left wing’s flap was not in place. The aircraft has been taken out of service for maintenance. We apologize to our customers for their experience as nothing is more important than the safety of our people and customers,” the airline said in a statement.
Footage below:
VIDEO AT LINK......................
CNN has more:
Video recorded by Arif showed the flap dangling behind the wing, as the plane flew at hundreds of miles an hour thousands of feet in the air.
She worried if the piece completely broke off it could hit the tail of the aircraft and cause a crash.
“We felt it was bad turbulence. The plane was shaking,” Arif told the outlet.
“The lady in front of us opened the window and told us it is broken. I opened the window and got scared,” Arif added.
Simple Flying noted:
The sixty-two passengers and six aircrew safely landed, and the aircraft has been grounded. Now, maintenance inspections and investigations are getting underway by both the airline and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Delta has stated that it is fully cooperating with the FAA investigation into the alarming mechanical failure on Tuesday. The two-hour and thirty-nine-minute flight covered over 1,100 miles (1,700 km) before the 737 touched down, as FlightAware data shows. Its transit appears to have been normal, cruising at 520 mph (835 kmh) and 40,000 feet (12,190 m) from MCO to AUS.
In videos seen online, the damage does not make itself apparent until what appears to be the pattern entry at Austin. That makes sense, as flaps are retracted after takeoff for transit when they are not needed for cruising flight. It does create a question: was the failure a result of incorrect groundwork, or was it damaged during takeoff?
The maintenance guy who found a bolt in his pocket just figured out where it came from.
And the aircraft just tagged along for the landing.
Based on what evidence? How many Boeing aircraft today are flying safely, and for decades!
That was not the worst of it They were also out of coffee
or a muslim dei in matinence
OPENED THE WINDOW?????????
Better a flap than a wing.
Yeah, otherwise they would just fly in circles...........
No need to worry about it flapping in the breeze. It’s called a flap for a reason.
I’m beginning to wonder if the maintenance units have been hiring Muslims. Many of the maintenance units are in Mexico.
Since this report is sparse on news, from another site it appears that it is a 737-800 that was almost 25 years old.
Must not have been very loose coming from the factory if it held on for over 24 years.
Just looking at the winglets on the end of the wing tells me the plane is fairly new.
See my comment in this post.
The rash of problems with the 737 Max too numerous for me to bother listing.
True that. Or, the remaining wing would point down and folks would be looking side ways, or something.
RC Acrobat shootout:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gh52tyilpr4&t=2s
at 4:30 plane loses wing. Still flies............
That would make this plane, at most, 11 years old.
Those are still statistically insignificant based on number of take offs/landings, and availability.
Ever hear of retrofits?
“A 737 winglet installation is estimated to cost $725,000 for parts and a 1-week installation process costing $25,000-$85,000.”
https://simpleflying.com/why-boeing-build-737-without-winglets/
Here’s an older story:
“Delta Air Lines has announced an agreement with Aviation Partners Boeing (APB) to purchase Split Scimitar Winglets for its B737-800 and B737-900ER aircraft.”
https://aerospaceglobalnews.com/news/delta-to-upgrade-its-737-fleet-with-new-winglets/
In your inarguably august opinion. The FAA grounded a bunch of them.
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