'We were just circling': Passengers react to Delta emergency landing
Passengers are relieved after a mechanical issue led to tense moments on a Delta Air Lines flight to Charlotte Wednesday morning.
Delta Flight 1092 departed Atlanta just before 7:30 a.m. As the plane approached Charlotte, the pilot alerted air traffic control that they were experiencing a landing gear issue. After circling the airport, the pilot was able to safely land the plane without the nose gear.
Air traffic communication obtained by WCNC Charlotte shows the pilot telling the tower that they had an unsafe nosewheel with "104 souls on board." Delta confirmed the plane had 96 passengers, two pilots and three flight attendants. The pilot also said the plane had 50 minutes of fuel.
Fortunately, no one was injured during the scary incident.
"Initially we were going down to land and we got 30, maybe 50 feet from the runway and the pilot sped up and kind of took off again, he didn't want to land," one passenger said. "That was kind of the first sign of, 'Oh, something must be pretty wrong.' As we came back around for the second time, I think it kind of set in, everybody was looking around like what is actually the problem?"
Charlotte Douglas officials confirmed everyone on board was safe and carried to the terminal on buses. The cause of the landing gear failure is under investigation.
"We were just circling, we didn't know why we were circling the airport," another passenger said. "Then the pilot came on and let us know the wheels up under the nose weren't coming down."
And while passengers credited the pilot for an excellent job landing the plane safely, it's a moment they won't soon forget.
"The fear and panic that set before this was palpable," Ariel Ramsay commented on a passenger's video of the landing. "There was a lot of nervous crew, some more than others, crying and hugs, true fear of what it could have been for very valid reasons. I am so thankful for the crews work in landing safely, and for the staff who were working hard to hold their own fear down while providing the calmness we needed."
Delta issued a statement saying in part, "Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and employees," telling WCNC Charlotte the airline plans to take care of customers who were on the flight.
