A Boeing 757 plane operated by Delta Air Lines lost a nose wheel while preparing to take off from Atlanta's main airport on Saturday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. It was the latest worrying incident involving one of the manufacturer's aircraft.
Delta Air Lines Flight 982 was preparing to take off from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport for a trip to Bogotá, Colombia, around 11:15 a.m. Saturday when a “nose wheel came loose and rolled down the hill,” the agency said a preliminary report.
More than 170 passengers on board had to leave the plane, but no one was injured, the report said.
A Delta spokesman said the passengers were transferred to a replacement flight.
A Boeing spokesman declined to comment and referred questions to Delta.
The FAA said it was continuing its investigation.
It's been a tumultuous time for Boeing, which has been plagued by safety concerns following deadly disasters in recent years. The manufacturer is facing renewed scrutiny after a door plug exploded on a new Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 plane at 16,000 feet on Jan. 5, shortly after it took off from Portland International Airport in Oregon.
No one was seriously injured at the time, but passengers were exposed to whipping winds on the plane's harrowing return trip to Portland.
The FAA then ordered about 170 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft to be grounded in the United States until they could be inspected. The plane that lost a wheel in Atlanta on Saturday, a Boeing 757, is a different model.