I know the beginning of a survival horror plot when I see one, and a flight making an emergency landing on a remote volcanic island is one of the all-time classics.
The flight travelling from New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport to Madrid experienced engine trouble close to Portugal. The Delta flight was forced to make an emergency landing on the remote volcanic island of Terceira.
Thankfully, unlike the films, the island was actually somewhat populated, and there was a runway. It wasn’t a case of smashing the 787 through vine-covered trees and batting monkeys on the way out. The island is a part of the Azores, which is a collection of autonomous islands off the coast of Portugal.
Thankfully, the struggling plane made a safe landing, and all 282 passengers were safely evacuated with a surprise extra island stop on their flight. The passengers were given a night to enjoy the remote island, with free hotel accommodation. They were then popped on a plane the next day and allowed to continue their journey.
Just Another In A Series of Aviation Failures
Since the devastating collision between a passenger plane and a Black Hawk helicopter in the US, the aviation industry has been under serious scrutiny. As a result, every little issue with planes has been reported on. The media is full of plane crashes and mechanical failures.
The powers that be are claiming that there are no more failures or incidents in the aviation industry than normal. They have always been this bad, and flight is still statistically the safest form of travel. However, this could just be a cover-up. We all remember what happened to the Boeing whistleblower.
There have been a lot of flight issues in the last year or so. The engine failure forcing the Delta flight to make an emergency landing on a remote island is just one of many. Some are claiming that the issue comes from reduced repair budgets and understaffed airlines.
However, although there have been a large number of crashes and failures, thankfully, few of them have been fatal. Still, it makes me think twice about flying on US airlines.