Tuesday got off to a tragic start at Atlanta’s international airport after a tire unexpectedly exploded on a Delta Air Lines jet and killed two workers instantly.
The incident took place just after 5 a.m. in a maintenance hangar near the airport’s international terminal, officials said. The plane, a 31-year-old Boeing 757-232, had been grounded since it completed a flight from Las Vegas on Sunday night.
Delta confirmed the deaths in a statement and added that a third worker was injured in the blast. Sources told WSB-TV that the surviving worker was seriously injured.
“The Delta family is heartbroken at the loss of two team members and the injury of another following an incident this morning,” the airline’s statement said. “We have extended our full support to family members and colleagues during this incredibly difficult time.”
No details about what caused the explosion were released by late Tuesday morning. The incident does not appear to have impacted departures and arrivals at Hartsfield-Jackson, which is Delta’s main hub and is the busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic.
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Source Agencies
