Transportation

Delta Boeing plane loses wheel while taxiing for takeoff

A Delta Air Lines Boeing plane lost a nose wheel before it took off Saturday from the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

A spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement that the Boeing 757 plane lost its nose wheel as it was preparing for takeoff just after 11 a.m. to head to Bogota, Colombia. All passengers were deplaned and bused back to the terminal, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson also said that the FAA will be investigating the incident.

A Delta spokesperson said in a statement that the nose gear tire “came loose from the landing gear,” adding that the company apologizes “to our customers for the inconvenience.”

This comes as Boeing is also facing questions over a door plug that blew off an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9, prompting the plane to conduct an emergency landing. This also resulted in an investigation by the FAA and the National Safety Transportation Board.

The FAA later grounded 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft so they could undergo inspection.

Last summer, a Delta Boeing 737 plane’s left main gear tires blew and caught fire while landing at the Atlanta airport. The airline said at the time that 190 passengers needed to be evacuated using emergency slides and at least one customer was injured during the incident.