Passengers recall terrifying moments after smoke fills Columbia-bound Delta flight.
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Two Hopkins residents are speaking out after the Delta plane they were on filled with a smokey haze and had to make an emergency landing Monday in Atlanta.
Christin and Bill Chapman were still shaken up hours after they finally made it home.
Christin recalled the moment just after takeoff when Delta Flight 876 filled with smoke.
“It immediately filled with smoke. Immediately. And everyone started screaming, ‘Smoke! Smoke! Smoke,’” she said.
Chapman was returning home from a trip with her sister and father when the cabin of Columbia-bound flight quickly filled with a haze.
Christin’s father Bill said the smoke made it nearly impossible to breathe.
“It was the burning in my throat. And I just couldn’t holler,” he said.
Christin said the flight attendants initially made it sound as though they couldn’t reach the pilot.
“The flight attendant said, ‘We’re trying to get ahold of the pilot.’ And when she said that, that’s when all chaos broke loose. Everyone started crying, screaming, and it erupted into a panic,” she said.
The pilot contacted the Atlanta control tower and declared an emergency. The Boeing 717 with 99 people on board then made an emergency landing at Atlanta’s Hartsfield Jackson International Airport.
Once the plane came to a stop on the runway, emergency crews arrived as passengers were evacuated.
Passengers were then taken back to the terminal, checked out by emergency personnel, and booked on later flights to Columbia.
Delta released a statement to News19 that said in part “The flight crew followed procedures to return to Atlanta when a haze inside the aircraft was observed after departure. Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people.”
Aviation expert and former airline pilot John Nance said there are procedures in place for just such an event.
“If it’s something that is smoke and is getting thicker, then they’re going to immediately go to the nearest airport that can handle them, and that’s going to be with the full cooperation of the ATC, and (make) an emergency declaration,” Nance said.
He said air travel is still statistically safer than driving.
“We fly about 100,000 flights a day across the earth, 32,000 over the United States every day, and (there) is almost always a successful conclusion to every one of those flights,” he said.
Christin Chapman said after a long day of traveling, she’s grateful to be back home with her six-month-old son.
“I just remember crying out, ‘God please let me make it home to him,’” she said.
She says she’ll pay more attention to the preflight safety presentation from now on.
“I would encourage anyone to make sure you pay attention because our lives were saved today, but it could have really gone a wrong way,” she explained.
Bill Chapman said for his next trip, he’s sticking to the road.
“We will be driving,” he said with a smile.
News19 asked Delta about the status of that plane that suffered the emergency and if crews had determined what caused the smoke but have not received a response.