As if airlines haven’t been under fire lately due to crashes, another in-flight incident that happened on April 14 had people side-eyeing Delta Air Lines.
It’s one thing to have flight anxiety while knowing statistically that flying is the safest mode of transportation. But when you’re face-to-face with airplane parts falling apart, it can be a whole other story.
What happened during this Delta flight?
ABC7 News shared a viral TikTok where a passenger captured the concerning moment the “ceiling” on a Delta flight fell. The clip, which was captured by Thomas Witschy, shows at least three passengers holding up the ceiling panel with their fingers. Wires and various other components can be seen above it. The last clip showed bright neon tape criss-crossing the ceiling.
“The crew was able to tape it for the rest of the flight,” the text overlay read.
According to ABC7 News, the Delta Air Lines flight returned to the Atlanta International Airport for cabin maintenance.
@abc7newsbayarea Passengers aboard a Chicago-bound Delta Airlines flight were forced to hold up a ceiling panel after it partially collapsed on on April 14. Thomas Witschy, who captured this video, said he and two other passengers held it up from their seats until the crew “could get it scotch taped back into position.” The flight returned to Atlanta for cabin maintenance. #planetok #airplane #US #delta #maintenance #cabin #cabincrew #fyp #fypシ #abc7newsbayarea ♬ original sound – ABC7 News
What caused the ceiling to fall?
In a statement to People, Witschy said he heard a sound above his head that he assumed was a bag moving in the overhead bin.
“Shortly after takeoff there was a loud banging sound and the panel of the roof of the plane came off, crashing down, nearly hitting an older woman seated in the aisle seat in the row ahead of me in 18B,” he told the outlet.
According to the Chicago resident, it appeared to be holding on from one screw in the corner.
He and some passengers across from him helped up the panel, but the flight crew had to remain seated since the flight was still ascending.
Witschy said they held it up for around 15 minutes until the attendants could investigate. They kept holding it for another half hour until it was affixed with tape.
As for the cause, Witschy told people a passenger surmised it “there was a missing screw/bolt holding the corner of the panel directly above the woman ahead of me and the panel and it wouldn’t stay in place absent us taping it up.”
Did Delta Air Lines compensate the passengers?
The question on TikTok viewers’ minds was, what did they get in return for this not insignificant inconvenience?
“The flight attendants were mostly very nice and kept offering us free drinks for holding it up in the flight but everyone was like, ‘It’s 10 a.m., we’re okay,’ ” he told People.
At the end of the day, those seated around the panel received 10,000 miles each.
However, Witschy said he still filed a refund request “because it cost me a day of work, but haven’t heard back from Delta.”
A Delta Air Lines spokesperson told Storyful that there were no injuries onboard. “The flight departed after about a two-hour delay on another aircraft,” Storyful reported.
How safe is Delta Air Lines?
Very. Delta is considered one of the best carriers in the U.S. In fact, Air Advisor named Delta the No. 1 most reliable airline for the second year in a row. According to the company, “They had the highest on-time flight percentage – 83.52% (2022) and 84.90% (2023).
The site added that Delta also “tops the list for the lowest percentage of delayed flights.”
So it seems safe to say you shouldn’t expect to be holding up ceiling panels on the regular when boarding flights with Delta.
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