Delta Flight Faces Mid-Air Malfunction, Passengers Step In to Hold Roof

A recent episode onboard a Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta to Chicago that unexpectedly lost cabin pressure illustrates this point. Passengers suddenly found themselves in a surprise betwixt and between at 30,000 feet. Then, mid-flight, a panel on the Boeing 717’s exterior suddenly collapsed. Passengers wasted no time coming to the rescue, holding up the unhinged nose of the plane while flight attendants fashioned an emergency patch using duct tape. Luckily, no one was injured as a result of the accident.

The unfortunate thing was that the flight was already headed to Chicago. There was an enormous delay due to the fact that the passengers were required to support the entire ceiling of the aircraft. Passenger Lucas Michael Payne—one of the almost 400 people on board that day—recalled the terrifying scene. The attendants eventually duct taped it after like, after he kind of held it up for a while,” he remembered.

The danger arose just after the plane had to turn back to Atlanta because of the kerfuffle with a grounded airbus. Having done all the needed repairs, passengers were then put on wait for another aircraft. They were rebooked onto another aircraft, though to the passengers’ chagrin, that resulted in a nearly two-hour delay.

Even in the face of these tough situations, Delta Air Lines did right by passengers with generous compensation for missed plans. Payne pointed out that Delta’s offer was 10,000 miles – about $100 in value. On top of that, they would have gotten 100 dollar credit to any passengers who experienced the unfortunate circumstance.

My thoughts are with the person injured and with all those affected by this incident. As one commenter stated, I was on this flight! Delta only gave me a hundred dollar credit. Even more had their minds blown, with one Twitter user saying, “Just imagine if this occurred in heavy shaking.

Through all that mayhem, one survivor summed it up perfectly by saying, “It’s pretty sweet to be alive today.” Their quotes perfectly described the resilience and relief we all felt on board.

Thanks to Delta’s speedy response and actions to make things right, the flight was able to continue without further incident. No matter the difficulty they endured on their trip, passengers were happy knowing they were safe. They paused to hear from one another and to celebrate their shared experience.