Passengers evacuated via emergency slides from Delta plane at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

Kelly Yamanouchi, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Feb 24, 2025

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ATLANTA — A Delta Air Lines plane returned to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport not long after takeoff Monday morning after a “haze” was reported inside the cabin

Delta flight 876 took off from the Atlanta airport bound for Columbia, South Carolina, at about 8:30 a.m. But a haze raised concerns about smoke shortly after departure, and pilots on the Boeing 717 declared an emergency to get priority handling from air traffic control.

The plane returned to Hartsfield-Jackson, landing at around 9 a.m., according to flightaware.com data.

Passengers evacuated via emergency slides.

Two passengers were treated by emergency medical technicians afterward, according to Delta. There were 94 passengers, two pilots and three flight attendants on board.

The airline said it was investigating the source of the haze.

Passengers on the plane were to be rebooked on other flights after being shuttled to the terminal, according to the airline.

The incident came after a Delta plane crashed upon landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport a week ago, injuring 21 passengers, with no fatalities.

In late January, an American Airlines jet with 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army helicopter while approaching Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport near Washington, D.C., killing everyone on board both aircraft.

Earlier in January, a Delta jet was evacuated via emergency slides at Hartsfield-Jackson onto a snowy runway after an engine problem. Four passengers reported minor injuries.

That aborted Delta takeoff in January came on the day of a storm that caused hundreds of flights cancellations at the Atlanta airport. Combined, the storm and the evacuation brought flights at Hartsfield-Jackson to a halt for much of the morning, with the runways closed.