Delta 757 Halts Takeoff From San Francisco as Smoke Pours out of Engine (Video)
A redeye flight is reason enough to cringe, but couple that with smoke billowing out of one of the engines and you've found ideal conditions for a facepalm. For a reporter and photojournalist trying to get home to Detroit after covering the Lions' stinging loss to the San Francisco 49ers, you'd have to assume such an event further salts the wound.
Delta 1658, a daily redeye flight between San Francisco (SFO) and Detroit (DTW), began to take off as it usually does from The City by the Bay. Takeoff was suspended, however, when passengers and crew realized that either a cousin of Karl The Fog had taken up residence inside a Boeing 757 engine, or something was amiss. As smoke poured out of one of the engines, the plane was halted and the onboard filming began. Jennifer Hammond, a sports reporter onboard, shared the footage below. (To clarify further, Delta's initial statement on the incident called the aircraft a 767, but we have since confirmed with Delta that it was in error – the aircraft in question, as well as the replacement used to get passengers to Detroit, were both 757 aircraft.)
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn0T-Ekgqja/?taken-by=jenhammondtv
Following the mishap, Delta managed to get everyone off and onto a different aircraft in a shockingly efficient manner. Per FlightAware data, the second try departed San Francisco at 12:39am PT on September 17, 2018, and landed at 7:40am ET in Detroit.
The carrier released the following statement: "The crew of Delta flight 1658 from San Francisco to Detroit elected to suspend the takeoff out of an abundance of caution due to an indication of an issue with one of the Boeing 767's [sic] engines. The aircraft returned to the terminal where customers have been accommodated on an alternate aircraft, which is expected to redepart shortly. The safety of Delta's customers and crew is always our top priority and Delta maintenance technicians are evaluating the original aircraft."
H/T: Fox 2 Detroit