The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is currently investigating a United Airlines flight. The flight encountered an incident involving the loss of its emergency evacuation slide. The incident occurred just before the plane safely landed in Chicago. Interestingly, the slide was found in a neighborhood near O’Hare International Airport.
On Monday, July 17, 2023, United Airlines Flight 12, a Boeing 767-300, was traveling from Zurich, Switzerland to Chicago. Fortunately, the flight landed safely at O’Hare. However, during a subsequent inspection, maintenance workers discovered that the emergency evacuation slide was missing. It was later found in a nearby neighborhood.
Notably, this isn’t the first time a similar incident has happened in Chicago. Back in 2019, a slide detached from a Delta Air Lines flight that had landed at Boston’s Logan International Airport. Although the slide ended up in a residential area, there were no injuries sustained as a result.
Given the significance of emergency evacuation slides, the FAA enforces strict regulations concerning their maintenance and inspection. As part of the investigation, the agency will determine if any of these regulations were violated in this particular incident.
