August 14, 1935: Delta Air Lines Flight 4, a Stinson Model A was en route to Shreveport, Louisiana, the left engine separated from the aircraft after a propeller blade failure. The pilot attempted to make an emergency landing in a cotton field in Gilmer, Texas, but lost control and crashed killing all four on board.[1]
November 10, 1946: Delta Air Lines Flight 10, a Douglas DC-3 which departed Jackson, Mississippi attempting to land at then Meridian Key Field (MEI) in a thunderstorm and winds, had a runway excursion after landing, going beyond the end of the runway and up the western slope of a ditch adjoining the highway adjacent to the airport, bouncing over a highway, and coming to rest with the nose extended partially over a railroad right-of-way. All three crew and 19 passengers survived, but the aircraft was written off.[2]
April 22, 1947: A Vultee BT-13, owned by the Tuskegee Aviation Institute, the pilot attempted to land in Columbus, Georgia and landed on top of a Delta DC-3, registration NC49657, which was flying from Macon to Columbus killing all 8 on the DC-3 and the pilot of the Vultee BT-13.[3]
March 10, 1948: Delta Air Lines Flight 705, a Douglas DC-4, crashed near Chicago Municipal (Midway) Airport shortly after takeoff while en route to Miami killing 12 of 13 on board. Officials determined that longitudinal control of the airplane was lost resulting in the crash. The cause for the loss of control remains undetermined.[4]
May 23, 1960: Delta Air Lines Flight 1903, a Convair 880, from Atlanta Airport, crashed during a training exercise in Atlanta. The aircraft stalled and crashed killing all four crew members.[6]
January 13, 1963: A Delta Air Lines Douglas DC-7, registration N4875C, crashed into a parked USAFFairchild C-123 Provider on an unfamiliar taxiway at night. At the time the DC-7 was carrying 5 occupants on board on during a ferrying/positioning flight and was taxiing for takeoff at then Memphis Municipal Airport when it struck the USAF airplane. The pilot of the DC-7 was killed and the C-123 Provider was damaged by fire. The DC-7 was repaired and placed back into service.[7]
March 30, 1967: Delta Air Lines Flight 9877, a Douglas DC-8, crashed during a training exercise near New Orleans. The improper use of flight and power controls by both instructor and the Captain-trainee during a simulated two-engine out landing approach resulted in the loss of control. The aircraft crashed into a residential area, destroying several homes and a motel complex and killing all 6 crew members and 13 people on the ground.[8][9]
February 21, 1968: Delta Air Lines Flight 843, a DC-8 was hijacked to Havana, Cuba. This was the first successful hijacking to Cuba from the U.S. since 1961, and was the start of multiple hijacking attempts to Cuba in the late 1960s.[10] This coincided with the introduction of passenger screening using metal detectors in U.S. airports starting in the late 1960s.
July 31, 1972: Delta Air Lines Flight 841, a flight from Detroit to Miami, was hijacked to Algiers, Algeria by 8 hijackers. The DC-8 aircraft stopped in Boston to pick up an international navigator. The flight was allowed to return with passengers to the U.S., stopping in Barcelona for refueling.[12][13]
July 31, 1973: Delta Air Lines Flight 723 operating as a DC-9, was on its scheduled flight from Burlington International Airport to Logan International Airport with a stopover at Manchester, the plane had been vectored to intercept runway 4R, however the air traffic controllers were busy handling a potential collision. When the crew of Flight 723 asked the ATC about acquiring landing clearance, the plane had descended too low below the glide slope and over the outer marker. The crew failed to stabilize the approach, resulting in the plane to crash into the airport seawall embankment. The accident killed 88 passengers and crew, but one man survived and sustained serious injuries, however he died over 4 months later of his injuries in hospital.
February 22, 1974: Delta Air Lines Flight 523, operating a DC-9, was hijacked when Samuel Byck, an unemployed tire salesman from Pennsylvania, shot and killed an Aviation Police Officer, then stormed aboard the Delta Air Lines flight, at Baltimore Friendship Airport (now Baltimore–Washington International Airport) scheduled to fly to Atlanta, and shot both pilots, killing the First Officer, Fred Jones. Byck's intention was to crash the plane into the White House.[17] After shooting the pilots, the hijacker grabbed a passenger and demanded that she fly the aircraft.[18] The passengers meanwhile fled the aircraft. The hijacking attempt ended when, after a standoff with police, Byck was shot twice through an aircraft porthole by a Maryland policeman, severely wounding him. Before police stormed the plane, Byck killed himself. The plane never left the gate during this incident.[19]
April 12, 1977: Delta Air Lines Flight 1080 a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, while mid-flight on the San Diego to Los Angeles leg en route to Atlanta, the left elevator of the L-1011 stuck in the upwards position, causing the plane to pitch upward, nearly put the plane into a stall, however the crew was able to counteract the pitch by reducing the thrust on the wing engines, allowing the plane to land safely. Later investigation shows that the pressurisation cycle of the plane caused water to push inside the bearing and corroded it, resulting in the elevator to stick.
June 11, 1979: Delta Air Lines Flight 1061, a L-1011, was hijacked while operating its flight between New York's LaGuardia Airport and Fort Lauderdale. The flight landed safely in Cuba.[20]
August 23, 1980, a Delta Air Lines L-1011 on a San Juan to Los Angeles flight was hijacked and flown to Cuba.[21] The hijacker was jailed by Cuban authorities, and all passengers were released unharmed.
September 13, 1980: a Delta Air Lines Flight from New Orleans to Atlanta, was taken over by two hijackers and forced to fly to Cuba. The flight continued to Atlanta after stopping in Havana. The hijackers were imprisoned by Cuban authorities. One hijacker was released and later sought US residency. The suspect was later arrested by US authorities in 2002[22] and sentenced to 10 years in prison the following year.[23]
July 17, 1983: Delta Air Lines Flight 722, a Boeing 727 was hijacked while operating its flight between Miami and Tampa. The flight landed safely in Cuba.[24]
August 18, 1983: Delta Air Lines Flight 784, a Boeing 727, was hijacked while operating its flight between Miami and Tampa. The flight landed safely in Cuba.[25]
March 28, 1984: Delta Air Lines Flight 357, a Boeing 727, was hijacked while operating its flight between New Orleans and Dallas. The flight landed safely in Cuba.[26]
August 2, 1985: Delta Air Lines Flight 191, operating a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, on a Fort Lauderdale–Dallas/Fort Worth- Los Angeles route, suffered a severe microburst-induced wind shear which caused the plane to crash. 134 out of 163 on board were killed (2 survivors died more than 30 days after the accident) and one person on the ground in his car was killed as the plane crossed a highway while crashing. The crash would later become the subject of a television movie. Numerous changes to pilot wind shear training, weather forecasting, and wind shear detection occurred as a result of the crash.[27][28]
October 14, 1989: Delta Air Lines Flight 1554, operating with a Boeing 727-232, was parked at Salt Lake City International Airport preparing for a flight to Edmonton International Airport when it caught fire due to a faulty oxygen system that was never repaired correctly. Smoke quickly filled the cabin and all 19 passengers and crew were evacuated. There were three minor injuries which occurred from the evacuation. The aircraft was destroyed by the impending fire.[29]
January 7, 1992: Delta Air Lines Flight 1581, operating a Boeing 737, was taking off from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, when the right engine separated due to metal fatigue and poor maintenance. The aircraft was able to return to Dallas.[30]
July 6, 1996: Delta Air Lines Flight 1288, operating a McDonnell Douglas MD-88, suffered an uncontained engine failure of the port (left) engine on the aircraft resulted in a fan hub piercing the cabin. The flight was scheduled to fly to Atlanta. Two passengers were killed. The aircraft involved in this accident, N927DA, was repaired and returned to service. The aircraft was retired on August 10, 2018.[31][32]
October 19, 1996: Delta Air Lines Flight 554, operating with an MD-88, crashed while landing at LaGuardia Airport in New York City. The aircraft struck the runway approach lights and then the runway edge, shearing off the main landing gear. The aircraft, N914DL, was repaired and returned to service.[33]
March 31, 2002: Delta Air Lines Flight 12, a, McDonnell Douglas MD-11, experienced a fire warning in the number 2 (center) engine and diverted to Charlotte Douglas International Airport where an emergency evacuation was initiated. However, the warning was revealed to be erroneous, having been caused by a failure of the detection control unit.[34]
December 25, 2009: The attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 occurred six days before the operating certificates of Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines were combined (December 31, 2009). The aircraft involved in the incident was in Delta livery and reported in some early news reports as "Delta Flight 253".[35]
March 5, 2015: Delta Air Lines Flight 1086, operating an MD-88, crashed while landing in heavy snowfall at LaGuardia Airport. The aircraft lost grip and departed the left side of runway 13 while traveling approximately 100 mph (87 kn; 160 km/h), coming to rest nearly perpendicular to the runway with its nose on an embankment beside the waters of Flushing Bay. The accident resulted in damage to the aircraft's nose landing gear wheel well, main electronics bay, nose section, radome/weather radar, undercarriage damage forward of the front doors, and the left wing which proceeded to leak fuel from the associated wing tank. The NTSB determined the probable cause of the accident was the captain's inability to maintain directional control of the aircraft due to his application of excessive reverse thrust, which degraded the effectiveness of the rudder in controlling the aircraft's heading. Other factors contributing to the incident was the captain's stress and high workload during landing which prevented him from immediately recognizing the use of excessive reverse thrust. There were 29 minor injuries, but no fatalities.[36][37]
January 14, 2020: Delta Air Lines Flight 89, a Boeing 777-200ER, was on its scheduled flight from Los Angeles International Airport to Shanghai Pudong International Airport, when after taking off, the crew reported a compressor stall on the number two (right) engine. The air traffic controllers asked the crew if they could maintain their altitude and asked if pilots wanted to perform a fuel dump while above the Pacific Ocean, however the crew declined the option and decided to make a return to Los Angeles.[38][39] While on approach to the airport, the plane began fuel dumping over a five-mile portion of Los Angeles, including 5 elementary schools and a high school. The plane landed safely after completing the fuel dump.[40]
June 23, 2023: Delta Air Lines Flight 1111, operating with an Airbus A319, was taxiing to the gate after landing at San Antonio International Airport, when an airport ramp worker employed by Unifi was ingested into the right engine of the aircraft and subsequently killed. The incident was ruled a suicide. There were no other injuries reported.[41][42]
