No injuries as jetliner’s evacuation slide falls in Chicago neighborhood near O’Hare, officials say
Authorities said an emergency evacuation slide fell from a plane and landed in the backyard of a home near Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on Monday.
CHICAGO — An emergency evacuation slide fell from a plane Monday and landed in the backyard of a home near Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, causing no injuries but damaging the roof, officials said. officials and witnesses said.
The Federal Aviation Administration said a United Airlines Boeing 767 landed safely at O’Hare on Monday arriving from Switzerland when maintenance workers noticed a missing emergency slide on the side of the machine. fly.
The plane carried 155 passengers and 10 crew members.
WLS-TV reported that Patrick Devitt was not home at the time, but his son and father-in-law were present and heard a “boom” shortly after noon. Devitt pulled the slide from the back yard to the front.
He said the slide hit part of the house, damaging the roof, plumbing and a window shield.
“When it was stretched out, like it was a little messy, I’m sure that in the photo when we pulled it out, it was bigger than a small car. It’s a very, very big device,” Devitt told WLS.
United said it was trying to find out exactly why the slide turned up in the vicinity.
“We have immediately contacted the FAA and are working with our team to better understand the circumstances surrounding this matter,” United said in a statement.
The FAA said, without disclosing further details, that it was continuing to investigate.
