At least four people have been injured after a Boeing 757 Delta aircraft aborted takeoff at Atlanta Airport on Friday morning following an apparent engine failure.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport said in a statement that the incident unfolded at 9:10am local time, as passengers were reportedly told to ‘duck down’ and evacuate moments after the plane accelerated to take off.
The delayed flight was set to fly to Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. Operations out of the airport were delayed after the runway crisis, which the airport said came amid ‘ongoing severe weather.’
Four passengers reported minor injuries, with three treated on the scene while one was transported to hospital. There were reportedly over 200 passengers on board.
Images shared by others at the airport showed passengers leaving the Delta plane with inflatable slides deployed on a snow-packed runway as emergency services raced to the scene.
According to a post shared to the massage board site Reddit, a user who claimed his wife was on the flight said the jet was ‘accelerating to take off and the plane slowed.’
‘They were told to duck down and then were told to evacuate via emergency slide,’ the post read. ‘All her things are still on board and the passengers are standing in the snow.’
Officials said the aborted takeoff was due to an engine issue. DailyMail.com has contacted Atlanta Airport for more information.
At least four people have been injured after a Boeing 757 Delta aircraft aborted takeoff at Atlanta Airport on Friday morning
Images shared by others at the airport showed passengers leaving the Delta plane with inflatable slides deployed on a snow-packed runway as emergency services raced to the scene
Social media users claimed the jet was ‘accelerating to take off and the plane slowed, and passengers ‘were told to duck down and then were told to evacuate via emergency slide’
Workers shovel snow as it blankets the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Friday morning
Atlanta Airport said operations out of the airport have been delayed due to the incident and the inclement weather, but are ‘expected to be cleared shortly.’
Delta Airlines said 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.’
It came as bitterly cold temperatures blanketed the Atlanta area.
In another clip shared to social media, dozens of passengers were seen running across the snowy runway against freezing winds.
At least 786 flights were delayed at the airport on Friday due to the weather, and a further 421 were delayed, according to FlightAware.
A ground stop was issued for all incoming Delta Airlines flights at around 8am.
