A Delta Air Lines flight landed safely early Wednesday morning after a section of the aircraft’s left wing flap detached mid-flight and fell into a residential neighborhood in North Carolina. The incident involved Flight 3247, a Boeing 737-900ER traveling from Atlanta to Raleigh-Durham International Airport, with 109 passengers and six crew members on board.
Delta confirmed the incident in a statement to Fox News Digital, noting that after the aircraft landed at 1:15 a.m. local time on July 2, it was observed that part of the left wing’s trailing edge flap was missing.
“Delta is fully supporting retrieval efforts and will cooperate with investigations as nothing is more important than safety,” the airline said.
The missing aircraft component landed in the driveway of a residential property in Raleigh. Fortunately, there were no reported injuries or property damage, according to Raleigh police. Local news outlet WRAL reported that the flap landed in a densely populated neighborhood.
“It’s amazing when you consider it’s such a dense neighborhood and people are out all the time,” said Susan Reed, who works nearby. “We really dodged a bullet on this one. Let’s just hope it doesn’t happen again.”
The flight was delayed on departure and en route due to thunderstorm activity in the region. It left Atlanta at 11:06 p.m., about 10 minutes behind schedule.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has launched an investigation into the incident to determine how the part separated from the aircraft during flight.
While Delta has not indicated whether the aircraft experienced any control issues in the air, the safe landing and absence of injuries are considered a fortunate outcome.
This event adds to recent scrutiny surrounding the Boeing 737 family of aircraft, though there is no immediate indication that this incident was tied to broader systemic issues. Investigators will examine maintenance records, flight data, and aircraft logs as part of the FAA’s ongoing review.
