A Delta Airlines flight on its way to Sydney, Australia had to return to LAX and make an emergency landing there late Saturday after smoke filled the aircraft.
The flight had 162 passengers and crew, all of whom were safe in this latest aircraft incident to make the news.
The smoke was said to have come from the galley. Passengers were placed on another flight after the landing.
News footage from ABC7 showed the airplane landing in the darkness.
“Upon landing, there was no smoke in the cockpit, but pilots requested medical attention for passengers who may have been affected by smoke, according to audio from LiveATC.net,” ABC7 reported.
The incident occurred just days after another Delta Airlines flight crashed in Toronto Pearson Airport during landing, caught fire, and flipped over in the snow.
No one has been killed in that incident so far, but one child and two adults were critically injured and up to eight total passengers suffered injuries, according to paramedics.
On Wednesday, two small planes collided in Arizona near Marana Regional Airport, killing two of the four people on board the aircraft. The airport, near Tuscon, has no air traffic control tower.
Airplane-related incidents have been in the news since a military helicopter collided with an American Airlines jet last month, killing all 67 people on both aircraft.
USA Today reported that there have been 14 fatal aircraft incidents already this year, but the total number of aviation accidents so far in 2025 is down significantly from last year.
Furthermore, the American Airlines collision is the only fatal aviation accident in the last 15 years. All the others were smaller private planes.
A Bureau of Transportation report states, "Transportation incidents for all modes claimed 44,546 lives in 2022, of which all but 2,032 involved highway motor vehicles. Preliminary estimates for 2023 suggest a further decline in fatalities."
This makes flying the safest mode of transportation by far, even though the constant news reports of accidents make it seem much less safe.
