An incident occurred near Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport as an emergency evacuation slide detached from a United Airlines Boeing 767 on Monday, Your Content has learned.
Fortunately, there were no injuries, but the incident caused damage to a roof in a nearby residential area. Officials from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed that the aircraft had safely landed at O’Hare after arriving from Switzerland when maintenance workers discovered the missing slide.
The airplane had a total of 155 passengers and 10 crew members on board.
According to witnesses and reports from WLS-TV, Patrick Devitt, the homeowner, was not present at the time, but his son and father-in-law heard a loud noise shortly after noon. They soon discovered the evacuation slide in their backyard and, with some effort, moved it to the front of the house.
Devitt described the size of the slide, stating, “When it’s all stretched out, like it’s a little jumbled up I’m sure in the picture from when we dragged it out, it’s larger than a small car.
It’s a very, very big piece of equipment.” United Airlines expressed their concern about the incident and mentioned that they are cooperating with the FAA to understand the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The FAA is currently conducting an investigation into the incident, but no further details have been provided at this time. United Airlines and the FAA are working together to determine how the evacuation slide became detached from the aircraft, ensuring the safety and security of future flights.