Delta 757 Emergency Today 6-19

[LGA777]

I was at work today 6-19 when at around 1530-1540 I heard what sounded like an explosion ! I turned my head as a DL 757 was departing 13 (at LGA) with a short burst of flames emitting from the number one engine ! Over the next 20-30 seconds I saw two more short burst of flames and the 757 appeared to be going slow and barely climbing. I turned on the ATC Tower freq to hear in an extremely calm voice say "Delta 806 is declaring an emergency, we have lost an engine and are diverting to JFK", we would like to go Tower to Tower (freq). The LGA controller seemed to question JFK vs a return to LGA and the pilot replied we would prefer JFK and their longest runway, he also said something to effect as the engine was gone" ! They where cleared to 3000 feet and a heading of 180 then handed over to NY Approach. As we tracked the flight for a few minutes in the haze we could see black smoke coming from the aircraft. The Port did a runway sweep but I believe no debris where found, we had gate supervisors calling on the phone as some of our passengers at our gates head the explosion and where concerned ! Again my compliments to the Delta pilot on the radio for his very calm and professional way he was dealing with what appeared to be a significant emergency ! I am sure we will here more later !

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL806

Respectfully

LGA777

[T-Bird76]

Thanks for the report Ron, very interesting indeed. I'd love to be in the cockpit when something like this happens to witness first hand a flight crew's professionalism. This really is a testament to their training.

[NIKV69]

Darn I was planning to go shoot at JFK today but couldn't get out there. Would have been interesting to see that go by if the engine was still smoking. Thanks for the info Ron.

[Mellyrose]

Wow, that's scary....made my heart do a little flutter when I read it. Is everyone ok?

[LGA777]

Melanie, for about 60 seconds my heart was doing a little more than fluttering, we see scary stuff at work every once in a while but I have not seen something of this magnitude in a while !

LGA777

[cancidas]

of course, it happens after i leave.... i wanna see flames shooting out of the back of an engine. :(

[PhilDernerJr]

of course, it happens after i leave.... i wanna see flames shooting out of the back of an engine. :(

Well that's disturbing.

[mirrodie]

well we missed it too. As Eric and I pulled up to JFK, we were delayed from spotting due to an alert.

What was the reg? I didnt see her land but I did see a Comair go around, due to the emergency landing at JFK.

[LGA777]

Mario, I do not know the reg, just a regular new colors DL Mainline 757 !

LGA777

[DHG750R]

Those are the kinds of things I honesly dont miss Ron.. I have my own drama here all too often

Good catch,
D.