The Boeing plane that went on an emergency slide after taking off from JFK Airport on Friday is 33 years old, far beyond the typical retirement age for commercial jetliners, aviation experts say.
The chute from Delta Air Lines Flight 520 came off the panel above the right wing shortly after the Los Angeles-bound plane took off from New York’s JFK Airport last Friday. As The Post exclusively reported, the deflated slide was recovered Sunday after washing up on the Rockaway Peninsula, about nine miles from John F. Kennedy.
According to data from Airfleets.netthe Boeing-made 767 jet is 33 years old, exceeding the typical lifespan of airliners of 20 to 25 years, Scott Miller, a longtime commercial pilot, told the Post.
He said Boeing stopped delivering the 767 airliner 10 years ago, but the model is still in service with the U.S. military.
Miller said the accident was likely due to a latch failure because the aging Boeing 767 deploys its slides only when the emergency exit doors on the wings are open.
He declined to speculate on whether the freak accident was due to the plane’s age or because Delta Air Lines maintenance crews failed to notice a defective latch before takeoff.
In both cases, Mr. Miller pointed the finger at Delta Air Lines for the cause of the accident, accusing the company of negligence like the one suffered after a near-fatal explosion on a Boeing 737 MAX 9 plane operated by Alaska Airlines earlier this year. Boeing acknowledged the possibility.
“Once the aircraft leaves the manufacturer, Delta Air Lines is responsible for its maintenance and upkeep. It functions like a car dealership,” said Miller, who also teaches at San Jose State University.
Richard Levy, a retired American Airlines pilot who flew for 41 years, agreed with that assessment.
“This emergency exit opening doesn’t just happen in a vacuum,” Levy said.
“The question is, who did the maintenance on that airplane, specifically who did the maintenance on the over-wing emergency exit covers? That’s what the FAA will look at.”
Delta Air Lines said it will fully cooperate with the Federal Aviation Administration because “nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people.”
The National Transportation Safety Board told the Post it is “gathering information regarding this incident but has not initiated an investigation.”
According to information released on March 31, the aircraft is one of 44 Boeing 767-300s in Delta’s 963-plane fleet.
The average age of Delta’s 767s is 28 years, and the average age of its entire fleet is 14.9 years, according to filings.
“The planes in question here have been out of warranty for years,” Doug Drury, head of the School of Aviation at the University of Central Queensland in Australia, told the Post.
This is not the first time a Delta Air Lines 767 has been involved in a shooting incident.
Last June, another Delta Flight 520, flying the same route from JFK Airport to Los Angeles, was diverted to Utah due to what the Atlanta-based airline called at the time a “maintenance issue.” has been changed.
The Post earlier reported that shortly after it made contact with the ground, a slide at the rear of the cabin accidentally deployed into the cabin and shot a panel door at the crew, who were taken to the hospital.
Officials said at the time that the plane’s catering crew accidentally caused the slide to explode “like an airbag.”
A person close to the situation said it was not the same Boeing 767 because the flights on the same route have flight numbers rather than aircraft.
Officials said the 2023 incident was due to human error, as flight attendants did not release the slide before opening the door upon arrival.
