Delta Air Lines aircrafts have experienced at least four incidents within the past two weeks, capped off Tuesday when a plane was struck by lightning.
Incidents involving commercial aircraft suffering malfunctions in midair or otherwise being forced to make emergency landings have been the subject of increased scrutiny since the start of the year.
The trend was kick-started by an incident in which the emergency panel of a Boeing plane operated by Alaska Airlines flew off midflight, forcing an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon.
Images of the missing panel from within the plane quickly went viral on social media. Subsequent reports uncovered widespread concerns about corners being cut on build quality by Boeing, later resulting in the announcement that CEO Dave Calhoun would depart the company by year’s end.
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Within the past two weeks, planes operated by Delta have been involved in at least four incidents.
Most recently, a Tuesday morning flight bound for Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International from New York’s LaGuardia Airport was forced to declare an emergency after being struck by lightning.
The craft was ultimately able to land safely at its destination but was subjected to an inspection to detect any issues caused by the strike. A mark indicating a lightning strike was later confirmed to have been found above the windshield.
A separate emergency had already been declared on the flight after a passenger suffered a medical episode. No injuries were reported.
Newsweek reached out to Delta via email on Tuesday afternoon for comment.
Last weekend, a Delta-operated Airbus A330neo was forced to return to Salt Lake City after it was discovered that a pylon panel behind the left wing engine had “detached on takeoff.” The craft landed safely and no injuries were reported.
On Wednesday, a Delta flight bound for New York City made an emergency return to Pittsburgh after a “pressure alert sensor” for the front door went off. No injuries were reported.
On March 30, a plane bound from Denver to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was forced to make an emergency landing at its destination after a crack was found on the outer windshield. The craft went to a lower altitude “out of an abundance of caution” and was able to land 13 minutes ahead of schedule, with no injuries reported.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.