On Monday afternoon, while the plane was making its final approach to O’Hare International Airport, an emergency slide from a United Airlines Boeing 767 fell free and landed into a Chicago home’s garden.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is currently looking into how the emergency slide fell down from the 24-year-old aircraft.
Local media said that Patrick Devitt, a resident of the building, heard a “loud boom” as the slide hit the side of his house. Although the slide partially damaged the roof, no one was hurt by the falling debris.
Residents carried the heavy wreckage into the street, where it was examined by law enforcement and FAA officials. The emergency slide had fallen to the side of the building.
The slide that fell off flight 12 today and floated down to North Chester in Norridge caught on security cam. Starts at about 12:27:37 you can see it floating down. @nbcchicago @ABC7Chicago @fox32news @WGNNews @cbschicago @UnitedAirlines @CNN @FAANews @ohare @fly2ohare pic.twitter.com/l5OaN4DCkU
— Steven Preston (@streaker_67) July 18, 2023
An internal investigation was started when United maintenance staff at O’Hare noticed that an emergency slide was missing from the aircraft after landing.
When it separated from the airplane, the emergency slide was still folded up inside of its “pack” and had not yet inflated. Typically fastened to the interior of the cabin door, emergency slide packs are unable to fall from the sky because the door is closed.
However, the overwing emergency exits on the Boeing 767 have slide packs that are integrated into the side of the fuselage.
In a statement, a spokesperson for United said: “We immediately contacted the FAA and are working with our team to better understand the circumstances around this matter”.
