At first, Kristin Morris, who was returning home to South Carolina from Atlanta with her family, questioned why the plane was taking so long to take off.
She told 11Alive, “Got on a plane to Atlanta at 8:30, and we sat on the runway for about 15-20 minutes. I was asking why we were sitting there. Nobody said nothing. No sooner than we took off, the plane was filled with smoke.”
Delta Flight 876 was carrying 94 passengers, two pilots, and three flight attendants on its way to Columbia, South Carolina, on Monday, according to Delta.
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Nevertheless, the plane was in the air for only 35 minutes before returning to Atlanta at 9:04 a.m.
Soon after takeoff, smoke entered the cabin of the Delta flight, forcing it to return to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Morris filmed the smoke-filled plane and described the smell as “like gas or burning wires.”
Morris recounted, “People were on the plane saying smoke, smoke, smoke, yelling. I guess the flight attendant got on the mic and was like, ‘Guys, we’re aware it’s smoking, we’re trying to get in touch with the pilot.”
According to Morris, they were informed that they would be making an emergency landing. After the landing, they got out of the plane and stood outside for presumably twenty minutes.
Everyone used the slides to safely exit the aircraft after an emergency landing.
“The fire trucks and ambulance came out there. But no one would tell us anything,” Morris added.
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One of the pilots could be heard saying, “There is smoke in the cabin and need to plan a return back,” on an audio recording between the pilots and the tower during the incident.
The pilots also called for emergency vehicles, including fire trucks, to help, per the audio recording obtained by 11Alive.
In a statement, Delta Air Lines said the flight crew “followed procedures to return to Atlanta when a haze inside the aircraft was observed after departure.”
“Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people, and we apologize to our customers for the experience,” the airline added, according to NBC News.
According to the publication, this is the second smoke-related incident involving a Delta flight in a week.
Only three days ago, a Delta flight destined for Australia returned to Los Angeles International Airport “after smoke was detected in the galley.”
The Federal Aviation Administration is also conducting an investigation into the matter.
