FAA investigating whether part of a Delta Air Lines wing fell onto a North Carolina driveway
The wing part was found on a driveway in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo Credit: WRAL via CNN Newsource)
Washington (CNN) — A missing part of a wing from a Delta Air Lines 737 that landed Tuesday night at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, may have fallen on a nearby home’s driveway.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating whether the several-feet-long piece of metal discovered blocking the drive may be a flap from Delta flight 3247.
Flaps are attached to the rear of the wings and can be extended at takeoff and landing to expand the wing’s surface and increase lift.
The Boeing 737-900 departed from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, but when it landed in North Carolina the plane was missing a flap.
“After the aircraft landed safely, it was observed that a portion of the left wing’s trailing edge flap was not in place,” the airline said in a statement. “Delta is fully supporting retrieval efforts and will cooperate with investigations as nothing is more important than safety.”
Delta said 109 passengers and six crew members were on board.
“It’s amazing when you consider it’s such a dense neighborhood and people are out all the time,” Susan Reed, who works near the area where the part landed, told CNN affiliate WRAL. “We really dodged a bullet on this one. Let’s just hope it doesn’t happen again.”
CNN’s Cara-Lynn Clarkson contributed to this report.
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