Over 200 Passengers Evacuate Flight on Snowy Tarmac
More than 200 people were forced to evacuate a Delta flight in Atlanta on Friday morning amid a polar vortex that brought subfreezing temperatures and snowy conditions to the southern United States. Though, the reason for the evacuation was reportedly due to an engine issue, not the weather.
The 201 passengers were seen exiting the Boeing 757 via inflatable slides onto the snowy tarmac of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport just after 9:00 a.m., in photos and video that have since surfaced online. "On takeoff, something went wrong and engine caught fire," passenger Curtis James told CNN. "Had to emergency evacuate the plane."
Atlanta airport right now. pic.twitter.com/MOguPQvcSw
— Adrian Beecher (@BeecherAdrian) January 10, 2025
Emergency Evacuation in @atlantaairport_ @Delta this morning! Ground stop! What happened? Why the secrecy? No media? @CBSNews @abcnews @CNN @FoxNews #Aviation #safety #Avgeeks #Passenger #travel@ pic.twitter.com/3pkYvRaZtY
— Karlene Petitt (@KarlenePetitt) January 10, 2025
Neither the airline nor airport confirmed reports of a fire, however Delta did say that the incident was related to the engine in a statement. "Delta’s flight crew followed established procedures to suspend the takeoff of flight 2668 from Atlanta (ATL) to Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) after an indication of an engine issue," the carrier stated.
The evacuated passengers were driven back to the terminal from the tarmac. The airport said in a statement that four people had suffered minor injuries.
"At 9:10 this morning an aircraft aborted takeoff at ATL. Passengers deplaned via emergency slides and were safely transported to a nearby concourse," the statement read. "Four passengers are reporting minor injuries; one was transported, the remaining three were treated on scene."
— Atlanta Airport (@ATLairport) January 10, 2025
The evacuation was just one of many headaches being experienced at the Atlanta airport on Friday. Due to the inclement weather, more than 400 flights—making up over 40 percent that had been scheduled to depart on Friday—had been canceled as of 11 a.m. The storm has likewise caused over 2,500 flights to have been canceled across the country.