WINGS CLIPPED

Delta Plane Wing Hits Runway in Scary Botched Landing Incident

An air traffic controller told the pilot that sparks had been seen coming from the wing.

The Federal Aviation Authority will launch an investigation after a Delta Air Lines plane’s wing clipped the runway in a botched landing attempt at New York-LaGuardia airport. The pilot had been attempting a routine go-around procedure to retry the landing after an “unstable approach” at around 10:10 p.m. Sunday, according to the FAA. The left wing of the plane, which originated at Jacksonville, Florida, then collided with the runway. No injuries were reported and the 80 people on board safely disembarked. Audio from flight 4814, broadcast by ABC News, details the moment air traffic control contacts the cockpit to say, “Somebody saw some sparks coming from one of your wings.” “You guys feel anything?” the controller asks. The pilot responds: “We didn’t, but we’ll check it.” The flight was operated by Endeavor. The Delta-owned regional carrier was involved in the February incident in which a plane flipped upside down and crashed as it was landing at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. “The Endeavor Air flight crew followed established procedures to safely enact a go-around at New York-LaGuardia. The aircraft landed safely and proceeded to its arrival gate,” Delta Air Lines wrote in a statement about the incident on Sunday. “We apologize to our customers for the experience.”