Raleigh, North Carolina – A family in Raleigh experienced a surprising moment when they found a plane’s wing flap in their driveway on Wednesday morning.
This piece came from a Delta Air Lines aircraft that had landed just hours earlier.
Delta Flight 3247 departed from Atlanta shortly after 11 PM on Tuesday. According to FlightAware, the Boeing 737-900ER was carrying 109 passengers and six crew members, and it successfully landed at Raleigh-Durham International Airport around 1:15 AM.
A few hours later, Raleigh police received a report from a resident who noticed the wing flap obstructing their driveway. Preliminary investigations confirmed that it belonged to Delta Flight 3247.
Fortunately, there were no reported injuries or damage to property.
A Delta representative later stated that part of the trailing edge flap from the left wing had detached before landing.
“Delta fully supports our search efforts and will cooperate with the investigation. Safety is our priority,” the spokesperson mentioned.
Air attorney James Krauss commented on the situation, expressing skepticism about any safety compromise. He mentioned that even if the flap was from a smaller aircraft, it shouldn’t affect safety during landing.
“I don’t think there’s anything alarming,” he added. “While more people are flying nowadays, the maintenance and construction levels remain high.”
The wing flap was retrieved from the driveway around 12:30 PM on Wednesday. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating how this incident occurred.
