It has emerged that a Delta Air Lines Airbus A350 operating a flight to Johannesburg declared an emergency not long after departure from Atlanta.
Information has been released pertinent to this incident, which we will get into in this article.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
Delta Air Lines Flight DL200 – Atlanta to Johannesburg…
Delta Air Lines flight DL200, which declared an emergency, is a routine scheduled flight between Atlanta and Johannesburg.
The aircraft involved in this incident is registered as N519DN.
As per data from Planespotters.net, N519DN is a 1.5 year old Airbus A350-900 that was delivered to the airline in December 2022.
Of the A350-900 variant, Delta Air Lines has 30 of them in their fleet.
Furthermore, of that 30, all of them are in active service with an average fleet age of 5.3 years.
DL200 departed Atlanta at 2210 local time on May 27 and initially climbed out towards Johannesburg.
However, not long into the climb, the aircraft preceded to enter a series of significant holds to the south of the American airport.
After an hour and 20 minutes in the air, the Delta Air Lines Airbus A350 was able to make a successful landing.
What Was The Cause?
As per The Aviation Herald, it is understood the cause of the emergency on Delta Air Lines flight DL200 Atlanta-Johannesburg was due to a loss of automation on the aircraft.
Furthermore, this amounted to the loss of it’s autopilot and autothrust systems.
This is an essential part of the aircraft needed to maintain altitude and speed whilst in the climb.
The safety outlet reports that the crew made the “MAYDAY” emergency broadcast to air traffic control.
After landing, it is understood that the aircraft had to be towed off the runway due to hot brakes.
From there, it is understood that passengers disembarked the aircraft normally and safely.
Aircraft Still Grounded…
Data from RadarBox shows that the aircraft has been grounded since the emergency on DL200 between Atlanta and Johannesburg.
Future data is suggesting that the aircraft is expected to operate the DL200 service again later tonight.
However, that could very well be subject to change depending on if the issues have been fixed in time.
But for now, all eyes will be on when N519DN will be back in commercial service following this incident.
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