Chattanooga couple experiences Delta engine failure

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – A Chattanooga man says his wife and he had a terrifying experience on a Delta flight last week. 

Audio from air traffic control shows the pilot of Flight DL 1929 from Atlanta to Monterey, Mexico last Friday, January 19 at 10:30 a.m. telling traffic controllers, “Mayday! Mayday! We have blown a right engine!” 

Am Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport Firetruck responding to DL1929’s engine mishap on Friday, January 19, 2024 (Courtesy: John Isenhower)

John Isenhower and his wife were on that flight having flown to Atlanta from Chattanooga.

Isenhower says he was initially surprised how dirty the plane, a Boeing 737, was, but was not expecting what happened next.

He remembers, “When we finally hit our altitude and were just cruising for just a couple of minutes, a loud boom, it was like a bomb went off and everybody on the plane gasped because nobody knew was just happened… The guy that was a few behind me that could see the right engine, he said he was seeing like fireballs being shot out of the right engine.”

The flight did make a safe landing in Atlanta 47 minutes after takeoff last Friday according to flight logs.

Delta tells News 12 that there was a mechanical failure that required the plane to return to Atlanta, and no one was hurt in the incident.

They did say the plane was repaired and returned to service later the same day.

Isenhower says the mishap ruined their vacation, and that it took days to retrieve their luggage.

He said it had been sent to Mexico despite his wife and he returning to Chattanooga.

Delta asks customers with baggage issues to contact their service representatives.

Isenhower says he will be doing more research before choosing another flight.