A Delta aircraft experienced mechanical issues on Thursday morning that temporarily shut down a runway at Tri-Cities Airport. No injuries were reported. PHOTO BY SCOTT ROBERTSON
A mechanical issue on a Delta flight preparing to leave Tri-Cities Airport Thursday morning temporarily shut down one of the runways at the facility and left passengers on the aircraft stranded. No injuries were reported.
The Delta flight was preparing for a 7:35 a.m. departure when the brakes locked up on the aircraft. Crews worked to unlock the brakes, but were unable to do so. Tri-Cities Airport Deputy Executive Director David Jones said the runway remained closed as crews worked to move the plane to safety while other traffic was diverted to another runway.
“I think we had a couple of departures during that,” Jones said. “Apparently they were not able to get the aircraft brakes unlocked, so they basically pushed it back to the corner of this apron. It’s out of the way, and they’re currently unloading the passengers.”
Jones said he had no information on Delta’s plans to get passengers from the disabled flight to their destination. With the plane safely out of the way, Tri-Cities Airport was able to open the runway.
