US passenger jet makes emergency landing after smoke fills cabin mid-air

A Delta Air Lines flight bound for Columbia, South Carolina, was forced to return to HartsfieldJackson Atlanta International Airport on Monday morning after a “haze” filled the cabin shortly after takeoff, prompting an emergency landing. The Boeing 717 aircraft, carrying 94 passengers, two pilots, and three flight attendants, took off from Atlanta but had to turn back around 9 am after the crew reported possible smoke on the flight deck, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, which is investigating the incident. Emergency slides were deployed on the runway to evacuate passengers safely. Delta said its flight crew followed standard safety protocols after observing the haze inside the aircraft. “Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people, and we apologise to our customers for the experience,” a Delta spokesperson stated. The airline is still investigating the cause of the haze.Passengers recalled tense moments on board. “When the plane took off, it began to fill up with haze, and it was hard to breathe at times,” said a passenger named Johnny. Another passenger, Kristin Morris, described the panic inside the cabin. “People started screaming ‘ smoke, smoke, smoke.’ We were in the air for about 20 minutes, and it seemed to take a while before we landed.” After the plane returned, Atlanta Fire Rescue assisted with deplaning. Delta teams worked to rebook customers to their destinations. The airport confirmed the incident caused a moderate impact on operations. In a separate incident, chaos erupted at an airport terminal when a brawl broke out among passengers near a Spirit Airlines departure gate. Videos of the violent altercation, involving men, women, and even children, quickly went viral. Some individuals were seen standing on chairs to launch attacks, while others engaged in physical fights on the ground.