Delta flight suffers damaged fuselage after rough landing

Rescue flight sent to the Azores to bring stranded passengers back

A Delta Air Lines flight made a hard landing at an airport in the Azores (Simon Calder)

A plane made such a rough landing that it damaged the fuselage and landing gear.

The Delta Air Lines aircraft, a Boeing 757-200, was coming into land at around 8.30am at Ponta Delgada Airport in the Azores.

Flight DL414 was flying a seasonal route from New York JFK airport to the Atlantic islands, part of Portugal.

Images from local media show that while the plane is still intact, the aircraft fuselage is wrinkled due to the violent touch down. It’s unclear what led to the hard landing.

No injuries were reported.

The return flight from the Azores to New York JFK, DL415, was subsequently cancelled.

Rescue flight DL9959 has landed in the Azores to collect the stranded passengers and fly them to New York.

A Delta spokesperson said: “Delta is currently investigating damage to the 757 aircraft that operated flight 414 from JFK to Ponta Delgada, Azores on Saturday. A replacement aircraft was dispatched to operate the return flight back to New York.”

It’s not the first time a plane has landed roughly.

In June, a United Airlines plane skidded off the runway when its tyres burst on landing at Newark Liberty International Airport.