Delta Air Lines Flight 1854 evacuated using emergency exits and slides due to smoke in the cabin yesterday. Passengers evacuated via emergency slides and over-wing exits Denver, Colo. An MD-90, the airplane was en route to Denver International Airport from Detroit and was carrying 146 passengers, a Delta spokesman said.
A CNN report says there were no reports of fire but that some passengers suffered minor injuries. A small number of passengers were treated and released, the airline said.
One passenger tweeted that “fumes came through the vents.” Another passenger said the cabin filled with smoke as the plane landed.
“The oxygen masks never came down and people began to freak out,” D.J. Semenza told CNN. “The crew tried to keep calm and eventually called for an evacuation.”
The smoke was detected prior to the plane reaching the gate, said Denver International Airport spokeswoman Emily Williams. From the evacuation site the passengers were bused to the terminal.
The airline says the smoke was caused by a small amount of hydraulic fluid dripping onto the aircraft’s auxiliary power unit (APU). “When the fluid made contact with the hot APU, it created smoke, which was blown into the cabin,” the airline said.
Passenger Rachel Naftel tweeted, “Disappointed in the leadership during the emergency. No direction from delta. Thank goodness for the passengers who take care of things. When there are fumes coming out of vent & everybody dizzy, there is a problem & it’s necessary to evacuate.”
She added in another tweet, “Scariest thing. After landing fumes through the vents and fire. Feeling faint and sick. Baby was last one out!!! Emergency evacuation. Scariest thing ever.”
And in a later a tweet, “Now that I’m not in a daze: fumes came through the vents after we had landed. It made us instantly dizzy. No direction from delta said what to do. Smelled like an electrical fire, but we don’t know yet,” Naftel said.