Delta Air Lines said passengers at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport experienced engine trouble during a winter storm Friday morning and had to be evacuated to the tarmac.
Officials said Flight 2668 had 201 passengers on board, who were evacuated from the plane using an emergency slide and returned to the terminal via ground transport.
The airline did not provide details about the engine problem, but a winter storm brought snow and ice to the Atlanta metropolitan area Friday. The National Weather Service warned residents to stay home unless they have to go out.
Flight 2668 was scheduled to depart for Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport around 7 a.m., according to FlightAware.com. The takeoff was halted around 9 a.m., the Federal Aviation Administration told NBC News, saying it would investigate an engine problem.
Delta Air Lines said its flight crew, including two pilots and five flight attendants, “followed established procedures for suspending takeoff” of the Boeing 757-300.
“Nothing is more important than the safety of our employees and customers, and we apologize for putting our customers through this experience,” Delta said in a statement. “We are committed to supporting our customers and getting them to their destination as safely and quickly as possible.”
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport said four passengers suffered minor injuries. One person was transported for treatment and three others were treated at the scene.
“Due to the incident and ongoing adverse weather conditions, operations at the ATL have been delayed,” the airport said in a statement on X. “The aircraft and runway are expected to be cleared soon.”
On Friday, 98 million people across the South were under winter weather warnings as storms brought snow and ice to the region.
Approximately 1 to 2 inches of snow and 0.10 to 0.25 inches of ice are expected to fall in the Atlanta metropolitan area, potentially leading to power outages and major traffic disruptions. The ice and snow are expected to end around 10 p.m.
As of Friday afternoon, more than 2,600 flights to, from and within the United States had been canceled and more than 2,500 had been delayed, according to FlightAware.com. Hartsfield-Jackson Airport had the most, with nearly 900 cancellations and more than 430 delays.
More than 4,000 utility customers were without power in Georgia as of Friday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.us.
Kathryn Prociv and Rima Abdelkader contributed.
