The emergency exit slide fell off a Delta Airlines jet after taking off from New York headed to Los Angeles this week, the airline announced.
Delta said that crew declared an emergency and returned to John F. Kennedy International Airport with the 183 passengers on board.
“As nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people, Delta flight crews enacted their extensive training and followed procedures to return to JFK,” the airline said.
Delta said the Boeing 767 aircraft, which will be “thoroughly” evaluated, has been removed from service and the incident is under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration.
The incident comes after last month the Federal Aviation Administration announced it was considering measures to more closely monitor United Airlines following a series of safety incidents among the airline.
The regulator has discussed temporary actions it might take with the airline’s leadership including preventing the carrier from adding new routes.
“The FAA’s safety assurance system routinely monitors all aspects of an airline’s operation,” the agency said in a statement.
American Faith reported at the time that a United Airlines plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Los Angeles due to a “hydraulic failure.”
The plane, an Airbus A320 carrying around 110 people, was flying from San Francisco to Mexico City when it made an emergency stop around 4:30 p.m. at Los Angeles International Airport.
“The flight landed safely and passengers were deplaned normally at the gate,” United said.
“This aircraft type has three hydraulic systems for redundancy purposes. Preliminary information shows there was only an issue with one system on this aircraft,” the airline continued.
That same day, a United Airlines Boeing 737 went off the runway and got stuck in the grass at the George W. Bush Airport in Houston, Texas.
