An emergency slide fell off a Delta plane while it was in the air on Friday morning, forcing forcing the Los Angeles-bound flight to return to New York’s JFK Airport.
The freak accident set off an emergency alarm around 8.30am local time aboard Flight 520, which had departed the Queens airport an hour earlier, sources told the New York Post.
The crew — who had reported a vibration, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration — had no choice but to return to JFK with no injuries reported.
However, two days later, the emergency slide was found washed up in front of the beachside house of a lawyer whose firm happens to be suing Boeing over safety issues, The Post has learned.
Jake Bissell-Linsk, a New York lawyer whose firm filed a lawsuit against Boeing following the Alaska Airlines door blowout in January — told The Post he got a surprise on Sunday around noon when he looked out the window of his oceanfront home in Belle Harbor, Queens.
There – trapped on the rocks within feet of his front yard in a freak coincidence – was the emergency slide that fell off the Boeing 767 jetliner.
“We are right on the beach and I saw it was sitting on the breakers,” Mr Bissell-Linsk told The Post.
While officials had been searching for the missing slide in Jamaica Bay since Friday afternoon, it turns out the slide was more far-flung than they expected — as Bissell-Linsk’s home faces the Atlantic Ocean.
Belle Harbor is located 10km southeast of JFK International Airport. The emergency slide was found right off Beach 129th and Beach 130th Streets on the south shore of the Rockaway Peninsula.
Mr Bissell-Linsk said he went outside and got up close to snap pictures of the deflated, yellow slide, noting that it appeared to be intact despite being tangled in the rocks and floating in the surf.
“I didn’t want to touch it but I got close enough to get a close look at it,” he told The Post. “Our case is all about safety issues at Boeing, and this slide is literally right in front of my house.”
Several hours later, around 5pm, a crew of Delta workers arrived. They fished the chute out of the water and threw it into the back of a pickup truck, he said.
“My neighbour called the FAA hotline and they are closed on Sundays,” Mr Bissell-Linsk said. “So he just called Delta.
“I see this Delta truck pull up and watch them pull it out of the water. It took them about 10 minutes.”
The freak accident on Friday set off an emergency alarm around 8.30am aboard Delta Flight 520, which had departed the Queens airport an hour earlier for Los Angeles.
“Delta Air Lines Flight 520 returned safely to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York around 8.35am local time on Friday, April 26, after the crew reported a vibration,” the Federal Aviation Administration told The Post on Monday.
“The FAA is investigating. Please contact the carrier for more information.”
“Delta confirms retrieval of the emergency exit slide. As indicated on Friday, we will fully co-operate with all relevant investigations,” a Delta spokesman said on Monday afternoon.
Mr Bissell-Linsk is a partner at law firm Labaton Keller Sucharow, which sued Boeing on January 30 in an Alexandria, Va. federal court alleging the company made false and misleading statements about safety following the Alaska Air door blowout.
The incident has shattered the reputation of the aerospace giant, whose CEO has since signalled he will exit later this year.
Labaton is representing those who purchased Boeing common stock between Oct. 23, 2019 when Boeing said it was laser-focused on safety and January 24, 2024, more than two weeks after Jan. 5, when a door flew off a Boeing 737 Max during the Alaska Air flight.
Mr Bissell-Linsk said he hopes aviation authorities are investigating why the slide fell off the plane.
“I think the slide should be handed over to whoever is investigating the incident.”
Labaton’s case has now been consolidated with other similar suits, and Labaton, which is co-lead counsel in the consolidated suit, expects to file an amended complaint within two months.
“We haven’t decided if the slide is relevant to our case,” Mr Bissell-Linsk said.
This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission