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Delta flight loses wheel before takeoff
Traffic control audio caught the moment pilots realized a Delta flight to Colombia had lost its front wheel right as it was taxiing to take off.
ATLANTA - Air traffic control audio caught the scary moment a wheel fell off a Delta plane about to take off from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
The possibly dangerous situation happened around 11:15 on Saturday morning.
Delta Flight 982 had been cleared for take-off and was taxiing on the runway about to head on its way to Bogota, Colombia. That's when a pilot from another plane saw the front wheel fall off the Boeing 757 plane.
"Tower, the 75 on the runway just lost a nose tire. So he's totally lost that tire," the pilot was heard telling air traffic controllers.
"Roger, thank you. The wheel and tire?" the air traffic controller asked.
"The wheel and tire," the pilot confirmed.
Now stuck on the runway, the Delta pilot called maintenance for help finding the tire. Delta maintenance couldn't tow the aircraft, so the passengers were bussed back to the terminal.
Delta Air Lines Bombardier Boeing 757-200 aircraft as seen arriving, on final approach for landing in New York JFK John F. Kennedy International Airport. The B757 narrow body airplane was flying previously for TWA Trans World Airlines and AA American …
The incident caused delays as air traffic control had to move planes waiting to take off to different runways.,
"There's a lot of moving parts behind the scene," an air traffic controller told another pilot on the recording.
In a statement to FOX 5, a Delta spokesperson confirmed that "a nose wheel gear tire came loose from the landing gear" and apologized to customers for the "inconvenience."
Passengers eventually were moved to a different plane and got to their destination safely. Thankfully, no one was injured in the incident.
The situation is now under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration.