A Delta Air Lines 767-300 traveling from Berlin to New York diverted to Amsterdam after a mechanical delay onboard forced the flight crew to declare an emergency. These old birds are really starting to show their age.
Delta 767-300 Enroute From Berlin To New York Diverted To Amsterdam – Why?
On August 1, 2023, Delta flight DL93 departed from Berlin Brandenburg (BER) on time, enroute to New York Kennedy (JFK). However just an hour into the flight it made u-turn over the North Sea and headed from Amsterdam Schipol (AMS).
The flight made instant headlines after the pilot squawked 7700, thus declaring an emergency. Was it a medical issue onboard? An unruly passenger? A mechanical issue?
It turned out to be a mechanical issue indeed, with a passenger onboard providing updates on Twitter:
Can confirm on flight now. Pilot announced nuisance alarm with warning system. Unsure which. Not critical, but cannot cross Atlantic. We are parked and maintenance is on board. TBD if disembarking.
— Matthew Slater (@mdslater100) August 1, 2023
Update: Refueling rig is set up but doesn’t look like it’s pumping. No further announcements from crew.
— Matthew Slater (@mdslater100) August 1, 2023
Apparently, the Delta team in Amsterdam did not like the repair and a spare part had to be flown in from London:
ATL unhappy with TechOps repair they could do here at AMS. Waiting for a part to be brought in from London. We are being deplaned and rebooked. At least the EU has a sweet €600 for our troubles.
— Matthew Slater (@mdslater100) August 1, 2023
The flight was ultimately cancelled, with passengers rebooked to their final destinations from Amsterdam (a key service city for Delta and hub for SkyTeam partner with KLM, which offers nonstop service to many US cities).
We’ve seen a lot of issues with aging 767-300s lately on both Delta and United. This particular airframe, N182DN, is over 30 years old. When it comes to Delta, these aircraft are decried in business class due to the older business class seating, but mostly beloved in economy class, with a family-friendly 2-3-2 seating configuration.
It is not clear what repairs were made, but the aircraft flew as DL9888 from Amsterdam to New York on August 2nd and immediately traveled to Edinburgh, followed by Atlanta and Los Angeles. Today it is scheduled to fly to Honolulu and back and do the same trip tomorrow.
CONCLUSION
A Delta 767-300 diverted to Amsterdam after an unspecified mechanical issue onboard. These old birds are showing their age, but will likely remain a workhouse for years to come.
Were you on DL91 and impacted by the delay?
image: @OhhNeal / Twitter
Some of the DL and UA 763s are 30+ years old.
Yep we were on it and had to overnight at JFK for the next leg. Have not heard on compensation for that. Thanks for the heads up on 600EU.
I am the passenger who Tweeted. Like @Ty, still have not heard on actual compensation or even a request for official flight cancellation for insurance from DL. DL did reach out to offer both me and my partner (separate reservation) a BS $400 voucher…which is absurd given they are mandated to provide €600 or $800 voucher outlined in their own protocols (https://www.delta.com/content/dam/delta-www/pdfs/eu-compensation/Germany_en.pdf).
BTW, the ground experience was awful. Despite 3+ hours on the tarmac to get their s**t together, we were shuttled by AMS staff to 3 separate rebooking desks over the course of another 3 hours, all of whom were unable to help and told that us Delta would contact us. Surprise, surprise…Delta never did.