‘I’m OK’: GMA fans Breathe a Sigh of Relief as Ginger Zee and Hundreds of Passengers make Emergency Landing due to Technical Issue. What Happened at 30,000ft?
Good Morning America meteorologist Ginger Zee was onboard a Dallas-bound Delta flight that had to make an emergency landing shortly after takeoff.
Delta Flight 856 departed from LaGuardia Airport (LGA) in Queens, New York on Tuesday at 10:26 am and was headed to Texas‘ Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW).
But a mechanical issue related to the Airbus A220’s hydraulic pressure forced the aircraft to divert to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in Queens, New York.
After Air Traffic Control was alerted of the situation, the plane carrying 102 passengers and five crew members safely landed at around noon, according to Delta’s flight tracker.
Among those onboard was GMA star Zee, who shared the news of the unanticipated landing on her X account.
‘Not an April fool’s joke,’ she cheekily began the post that was shared at 11:54 am.
‘Our plane took off from LGA but just turned around and had an emergency landing at JFK because of a hydraulics system failure.
‘Fire trucks all around, thankfully just precaution. Many thanks to these heroes who are always ready. Grateful to be safe.’
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Good Morning America meteorologist Ginger Zee was onboard a Dallas-bound Delta flight that had to make an emergency landing shortly after takeoff
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Zee broke the news of the emergency landing on her X account. In her post, she thanked the firemen who aided the situation
LGA and JFK are about 11 miles apart from one another, but the Delta flight crew opted to land at JFK because it had a longer available runway, a Delta spokesperson explained to DailyMail.com.
‘The flight crew followed procedures to divert to New York-JFK for a more optimal runway after indication of a mechanical issue after departure from New York – LaGuardia,’ the spokesperson wrote in an email.
‘The aircraft landed safely, and we apologize to our customers for the delay in their travel. Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people.’
The airline representative said all of the passengers are being put on new flights to get to Dallas.
If Flight 856 had gone as planned, passengers would have arrived in Dallas at around 1:45 pm.
Tuesday’s landing debacle comes as authorities investigate what caused a Delta aircraft to flip over on a Toronto runway on February 17.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada released a preliminary report detailing the current ‘focus areas’ of the investigation and the information that has been garnered so far.
Landing techniques offered in pilot training, as well as training for flight attendants are being probed, along with the landing gear and wing structure.
Authorities are also examining cabin obstructions and impediments once inverted, as well as ‘coordination in emergencies’ and ‘organizational and management factors.’
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The Dallas-bound Delta flight was carrying 102 passengers and five crew members, who were all safely removed from the aircraft (stock image)
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Tuesday’s emergency landing comes after a Delta plane flipped over on a Toronto runway on February 17 (pictured: the flight aircraft from the February 17 incident)
The report determined that the plane suffered a right-side landing gear collapse as it made contact with the runway as challenging wind gusts hampered efforts to land.
There were 76 passengers onboard the flight from Minnesota that slid belly-up across the tarmac.
After the horrifying landing, 21 people were taken to the hospital. They have all been released since then.
Nine Canadian passengers, including one minor, filed six separate lawsuits in Minnesota last week blaming the airline for a ‘woeful violation’ of aviation standards.
They claimed they suffered ‘extreme bodily and mental injuries and economic losses’ as a result of the crash.
They also alleged the crew were ‘inadequately trained and supervised’ during the crisis, failing to follow procedures or monitor flight conditions.
