On September 1, 2023, a Delta Airlines Boeing 767 aircraft made an emergency landing in Prague, Czech Republic, with one of its engines engulfed in flames. The incident occurred as the airline was taking off on Flight DL-79 from Prague Václav Havel Airport (PRG) for a transatlantic journey to New York, United States. It was originally scheduled to land at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) approximately 8.5 hours later.
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However, as the aircraft was ascending from runway 24, its right-hand engine experienced a failure, accompanied by a series of loud bangs and flames. The crew promptly shut down the engine and returned to the airport, where they executed a safe emergency landing. A video captured the Boeing 767 taking off with one of its engines emitting heavy smoke.
The aircraft involved in the incident is a 33-year-old Boeing 767-300, registered as N175DN, which first took flight in July 1990. It is equipped with two Pratt & Whitney PW4060 engines. Following the engine failure during departure from PRG, the aircraft remains grounded in Prague. Currently, the intervention of the airport firefighters is underway. The situation is being closely monitored and more information will be provided as it becomes available.
Before each take-off, pilots carry out a calculation that determines the take-off weight and the power of the engines that the plane requires, according to the outside temperature and the length of the runway, in order to produce the ideal take-off speed, which is the speed necessary to generate a lifting force equal to the weight of the plane. This speed is based on the power of one engine in anticipation of any failure of one of the engines. during takeoff. Pilots usually receive intensive training twice a year on a simulator to simulate an engine failure during take-off under very difficult weather conditions. According to statistics, an engine failure during take-off is extremely rare and the probability of it occurring, according to international safety statistics, does not exceed less than one flight per million flights around the world.