‘We dodged a bullet’: Evacuation slide falls from flight onto suburban town
‘This was an accident waiting to happen,’ say residents
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The residents of a town in Massachusetts are “angry” after an evacuation slide fell from a plane flying overhead.
The 6ft silver slide tumbled from a Delta flight travelling from Paris to Logan International Airport in Boston.
It landed in a front garden on Adams Street in the small town of Milton, where locals expressed their concern.
“We dodged a bullet,” Milton Select Board Chair Michael Zullas told the Boston Herald. “We’re thankful no one was injured.”
He added that residents are “angry” as this is the second time something has fallen from the sky onto Milton in the last 10 years.
The slide came from a Boeing 767, which the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has previously flagged as having issues with the emergency slide inflating accidentally during normal aircraft maintenance and operation.
“This was an accident waiting to happen,” said Milton local Cindy Christiansen. “They’ve known about this for a long time.”
She added that, while there’s increasing concern for the safety onboard flights, little is done about the safety under them.
“What if this had been a catastrophe?” she said.
Delta said in a statement, “Our maintenance team is inspecting the aircraft; at this time we do not have any additional information.”
The FAA has confirmed it is investigating the incident.
It said in a statement: “We investigate each incident thoroughly, and we work closely with air carriers to correct problems.
“If we find a systemic problem, we share that information with other operators to avoid future occurrences.”
The Independent has contacted Delta for comment.
It’s not the first time something has fallen from an aircraft.
In August, plane debris rained down “like bullets” when metal fragments fell off a Boeing 787 Dreamliner shortly after take-off in Rome.
People living under the aircraft’s flight path were pounded by hundreds of eight-inch pieces as the Norwegian jet departed the city’s Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport.
“It was a storm of steel and iron,” one resident told the Il Messaggero newspaper. “I screamed and ran into the house.”
A spokeswoman for Norwegian said there had been “indications of a technical failure” but that the aircraft had landed safely.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments