Delta 737 wing flap partly detaches en route to Austin; FAA probes

A Delta Air Lines Boeing 737 carrying 62 passengers and six crew members experienced a partial detachment of a wing flap while en route to Austin, Texas, on Tuesday, prompting an FAA investigation after the aircraft landed safely and was taken out of service for maintenance. The incident occurred as Delta Flight 1893 from Orlando approached Austin-Bergstrom International Airport at high speed and low altitude, with passengers reporting a sudden tremor and a piece of the left wing fluttering behind the jet.

Passenger Shanila Arif described the flight as it neared its destination, saying the plane “felt it was bad turbulence” and that the wing flap could be seen dangling outside the aircraft from a window in front of her. “The lady in front of us opened the window and told us it is broken. I opened the window and got scared,” she recalled. A video captured by Arif shows the flap partially detached and flapping behind the wing as the aircraft descended through the sky at several hundred miles per hour. The flight level and exact altitude cited by passengers placed the event thousands of feet above the ground before the safe landing.

Delta Air Lines confirmed after the landing that...