Communications between Delta Flight 1323 and the Atlanta air traffic control tower Monday night confirm reports that an engine fire curtailed its flight to Los Angeles.
“What is the nature of your emergency,” an air traffic controller asked in a recording obtained by AM750 and now 95.5FM News/Talk WSB.
“Left engine fire,” someone from the flight crew responded.
Officials with the Atlanta-based airline previously only acknowledged engine trouble as the cause of the return but would not elaborate on the nature of the problem.
“How many pounds of fuel are on board and how many souls?” an air traffic controller asked the flight crew in the recording, as part of the standard protocol for emergency landings.
A crew member replied that the flight was carrying 48,000 pounds of jet fuel and estimated at least 160 passengers – there were actually 174.
Even when on the ground, there appeared to be some remnants of the fire that curtailed the flight.
“How does it look on the left?” a crew member asked the tower. “Is it still hot?”
“Number 1323, … it appears to be some kind of orange glow off your left engine,” the tower said when the airplane was on the ground.
“Are you all going to evacuate or did you want somebody … to come and inspect that?”
“We are going to evacuate, sir, we are going to evacuate,” the response came from the cockpit.
Several passengers suffered minor injuries as they slid down the escape chutes, but all had been treated and released.
It remains unclear what caused the fire, but Delta spokesman Anthony Black declined to discuss the cause because the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident.
This was the second Delta flight with engine trouble in three days. Saturday, Flight 221 bound for Brazil turned back to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
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