Delta Air Lines set to inspect over 100 aircraft after severe storms hit Atlanta airport. On Friday night, hail the size of a quarter fell in the area, said WRDW. During the storm, Delta kept many of its planes on the ground. Now, the airline must inspect the planes before letting them fly again. A Delta worker from the Atlanta office said their maintenance team is moving fast to handle the backlog.
What went wrong for Delta when the storm hit?
On Friday, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport had major issues after strong thunderstorms rolled through. It’s one of the busiest airports in the world. The storms got so bad that the air traffic control tower had to be evacuated. FlightAware, a flight tracking site, said more than 1,000 flights were delayed and over 170 were canceled by Friday evening. These delays and cancellations happened during a key summer travel weekend, said FOX 5 Atlanta. Many people were planning trips for the Fourth of July holiday.
A flash flood warning was also issued in parts of Atlanta. The FAA said takeoffs were delayed by 16 to 30 minutes, and those delays kept getting longer. Arrivals were running late too—by about an hour and 15 minutes at one point. All flights heading to Atlanta had to stay at their departure airports until at least 12 AM EDT on Saturday. Strong winds led the FAA to move airport staff out of the control tower.
What did officials say about the situation?
The FAA put out a statement saying that air traffic controllers went back to the tower after being moved out for safety. Some staff stayed inside the tower to handle incoming flights. Tim Turner, who speaks for the airport, said only two air traffic controllers stayed in the tower to keep communication going while the others left. The tower was back to full work soon after.
Delta Air Lines set to inspect over 100 aircraft after severe storms hit Atlanta airport. The airline said it had to reroute more than 90 of those flights because of lightning and strong winds.
FAQs
- Are Delta flights back on schedule by Saturday?
Delta said delays and cancellations might still happen on Saturday morning while they move planes around. - How many flights were messed up by the storm?
By Friday evening, FlightAware showed more than 1,000 flight delays and over 170 cancellations. - What should travelers do now?
Passengers should check the FAA’s airspace page and contact Delta for updates.
